Absolute Divinity
by SocialistBukharin
Summary: When you're given the chance to bring prosperity to the entire world, would you deny it because of the horrible person you are now taking over? "It takes a fool to underestimate true justice. The Heavens have Spoken, for I am the bringer of peace for this world!" A look in a somewhat less-malicious SI!Dio's tale of deception, family and some bizarre stuff. No Yaoi.
1. Giovinezza (1)

**DISCLAIMER**

**The following is a fan-based**

**FICTION**

**All Parts of the JJBA are all owned by Hirohiko Araki. **

**Please Support the Official Release!**

* * *

**Capitolo Primo: Giovinezza (1)**

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When I blinked myself out of the coat of shadows that had welcomed my mind during this slumber, I wouldn't have thought to find myself dealing with quite the absurd predicament.

'Bizarre' would fit too, especially if some considered the circumstances that saw my sudden insertion within the strangest of times and worlds.

My eyes had to squint and blink for some time, growing more and more accustomed with the dim light giving a bare display of my current setting, my previously-slumbering mind forced quickly out of its usual recovery and right on the panic-inducing predicament I was being part of.

This wasn't my room, nor was I sitting by my bed.

The rumbling, the noises of horses, the voice of a man directing the animals right through the muddy path before him and…

I was in a moving carriage directed Gods know where.

It was a very old model, something I instantly picked up by the lack of proper comfy pillows as my buttock was starting to grow sore at merely relaxing upon that sturdy piece of cloth.

There were Victorian decorations placed all over its inner wall, those were possibly there to try and give its interior some 'elegance', failing short as the stinging scent of the nature all around the vehicle, which managed to enter thanks to the small openings offered by the windows near the little door to the outside, diluted if not _shattered_ the illusion of a pleasant trip into the unknown.

Once I got a complete look of the setting, I found myself exploring something that shouldn't have changed with this curious awakening and… yet it had.

I was shorter, tinier and… younger.

I glanced down, ignoring for just a moment the prim and proper dress that was known to many rich children back in the nineteenth century, my pair of eyes widening in slight confusion and nervousness as I saw how small my hands were compared to the previous day.

Blinking at the hint that my body had somehow changed overnight, I was quickly rummaging at the little brown baggage set near to my seat, my main task trying to find a specific object that, possibly, was there to assist me in validate my new concerns.

I found a little circular mirror, it was pretty small and quite ruined as its screen was filled with some dust and some mold, causing me to frown as… why would I be carrying something moldy in such an expensive vehicle.

The answer to that silent query was presented when I finally glimpsed at the reflective texture of the tiny thing and… my mind suddenly brought an end to this mystery.

**ゴ**  
** ゴ**  
**ゴ**  
** ゴ**

A pair of orange orbs showed the same amount as my inner surprise, my sight scanning frantically and almost furiously at the mostly unfamiliar face as this couldn't be reality.

This had to be a dream, a pesky and perverted derivation of my delirious state of mind during a feverish night.

There couldn't be alternatives but… I brought my hand to my chin, the youthful figure on the other side of the mirror following my action and proceeding to copy my brief chin-scratching as I mourned the lack of my goatee.

My face lacked any facial hair excluding my hair, something that even more confirmed that I was looking at my reflection.

This young blond boy, this confused and so terrible individual…

Why was I looking at Dio Brando?

An ever-present threat within the Jojo series, the man that tried to become invincible before succumbing to a religious euphoria that drove him to seek the Heavens.

A megalomaniac, but a resourceful and dangerous one with the intriguing mind that his narcissistic sanity had attached too.

A monstrous individual, someone that came so close to achieve true victory even while rotting in hell thanks to the aide of his closest friend.

_**And I was stuck in his youngest form known. I- I was Dio Brando!**_

Everything came crashing down onto my poor soul, from the crime already committed by the murder of Dario Brando to the main objective the young 'Invader' had planned to go through by trying to 'steal' the Joestar's riches.

I was stuck in the mortal coils of the greatest antagonist in this universe, devoid of any of its true power and unleashed potentiality.

There was no vampire-related abilities, nor I had a Stand capable like ｢The World｣ to fight off any menace that persisted to end my very existence.

Time was essential for those that sought true dominance over the planet, in fact it was the prime element that reigned over everything and everyone.

And I, a mere human with mere knowledge, was granted the chance of achieving the final reward of a glorious plan and much more if I was careful to take the proper decisions and actions to assure it all.

I could do so much given proper peace and no distractions.

I could create a better world to control and lead, to bring world-peace and prosperity without facing any threatening opposition… if I was careful enough to not warrant any of my future 'fateful enemies' to come and hunt me.

It was all about carefulness and planning out the proper path to follow so that I could achieve the maximum reward with the minimum effort.

It was a golden opportunity, truly a divine intervention that granted me the chance of bring forth a new era to this world!

Just as I concluded those musings, I felt the carriage slowing down its pace and then… it came to a pause.

My thoughts were smoothly drowned as I let my own state of masterful composure, born from experience and practice, to take over the expressions of my new face as I prepared for quite the encounter.

I didn't need to create issues with the one waiting just outside the vehicle, I didn't certainly need to spark the Dio-Joestars rivalry that would see me failing horribly and painfully.

I was too attached to life to consider falling onto the overly-childish attitude displayed by the younger Dio and his self-destructive anger toward rich people.

But I couldn't certainly behave too 'kindly' with the fellow, I needed to keep myself polite and 'friendly' before the gullible young man that was Jonathan Joestar.

So I slowly stood up from my seat, ignoring my aching legs as I took hold of my baggage with both of my hands, and I moved to leave the limited place.

The door opened calmly, part of my giddy self almost _demanding_ to try and pull off the same dramatic stunt the blond achieved in Canon… but I wasn't in the general mood to fail epicly thanks to my uncoordinated sense of mind-body.

While my body had changed, my mind had remained untouched and… still prone to commit quite the awkward physical reactions when given the unique opportunities.

Descending from the small height between the carriage's room and the floor, I closed the door behind me and… I turned to see the approaching young man, blinking in minor surprise at how similar he was to the animated version.

The only difference I could perceive was that his hair was much more darker than outright dark-blue, which was convenient considering that this period of time had yet to experience the full bizarre style that Araki is known for.

"You are Dio Brando, right?" The young Joestar inquired in quite the blunt manner, slightly nervous but still showing some emotion over the need of portraying etiquette.

One of the flaws that the boy was known for early on in his life, something that got him chided by his father numerous times… and for good reasons.

Newspapers and textbooks about the Victorian Age displayed the strictness in which some wealthy family were living, far from the easy-going pace that many of the modern nobles were known for.

And in a society where etiquette, money and social stature mattered over emotions and facts? People needed to adapt to conveniently survive any bad reaction to certain 'wrong' attitudes.

So, while I showed a polite and regal smile at the brash Jojo, I felt some pity at how unfortunate life was going to be with me now around him.

Not because I was going to create any chaotic circumstance to make him suffer, but rather I was sure George Joestar, his father would be blissfully dense enough to start some 'nonexistent competition' to try and push his son to achieve much more than mere laziness.

"And you must be Jonathan Joestar," I carefully replied, knowing full well how the discussion would escalate and, if I played my cards well, I could also get some starting point to influence the naive youth.

"Everyone calls me JoJo. Nice to meet you too." He seemed to gain confidence at the lack of negative connotations from my voice, but I was more interested over his nickname.

I could understand Joseph and the other members of the Joestar family as it wouldn't be difficult to see the context that drove family and friends to adopt such a nickname… but Jonathan?

Why would someone call someone 'Jojo' in Victorian Britain? It wasn't like his father had gone to India or Asia- Actually that might be the case as the mask had to have come from Asia, Africa or some other place away from Europe.

Just as I concluded that line of thoughts, I felt something warm and wet reach for my fingers and I almost jumped in surprise when I saw a certain barking Great Dane trying to gain my attention and my reaction.

Tail waggling excitedly at my arrival, I could help but have a smile appear on my face as I carefully tried to caress its fur.

The pet seemed to notice the attempt, leaning on and letting my fingers cautiously scratch the top of its head, more than happy to accept the kind return.

I had my fair share of experience with animals, both dogs and cats, so while Dio might have found the animal to be a pest, I was actually seeing this puppy to be nothing more than an adorable and playful thing to have around.

A soft bark accentuated the appreciation for the gesture and I noticed a brief chuckle coming by the side.

"See? He doesn't bite?"

_**But he used to bite you a lot, JoJo, in fact you were also keen to retaliate with rocks until he saved you from drowning in a river.**_

I didn't tell him that, my attention returned to the dog as Danny tried to stand on its hinder legs to try and give my face a lick or two, to which much to his dismay I was forced to back away from as I couldn't certainly exaggerate with the planned meeting with the true owner of this mansion.

Speaking of the devil, George Joestar decided to appear in that very moment, instead of the worried expression of dealing with some childish rivalry he was showing a mirthful smile at the interaction I was having with the family's pet.

"I see that you have made the acquaintance with JoJo and Danny, Dio," The man commented happily, nodding at his son before giving me his full attention. "Please, do come inside."

I nodded back, following Jonathan inside while ignoring the giddy dog as he was taken by one of the servants outside to keep him busy.

The entrance room of such a massive mansion proved to be powerful compared to the original scene as I was given the chance of looking around discretely over the various statues and artefacts that were there displayed for everyone to see.

I merely glanced at the Stone Mask, a chill going down my spine at the mere power hidden behind such a seemingly-innocuous object, but I still kept my attention onto the conversation.

I wasn't going to slight anyone anytime soon… that is until I have a 'reason' and a backup plan to avoid dealing with any dangerous effects against me.

"I welcome you to my home, Dio," George continued, now in front of the rest of the servants working in this house, three butlers and three maids. "You will considered as part of our family."

The noble turned to look at the curious workers and nodded.

"Everyone, I owe my life to this young man's father. Treat him as you would JoJo."

"Yes, my lord," The leading butler, possibly the head of the group, replied before bowing with the rest of the servants.

"Dio, this is now going to be your home. Understand that I will treat you as you were my own son," He concluded with a careful smile, trying to not appear nervous himself over the curious development in their lives.

Still, I decided to bow at him. "I'm flattered and thankful of your hospitality, Lord Joestar."

"You and Jojo are both young men and I wish for you both to enjoy each other's presence from now on," The older Joestar patted his son's shoulder. "But from what I've seen, I can already tell you two are going to be good friends."

_**Friends without much deception. I don't want to get Hamon'd anytime soon after all.**_

"This way, Dio. I'll show you your room."

I nodded again at his words, this time giving attention to pick up my baggage instead of drawing Jonathan's attention back on me and, as I walked up the stairs, I heard the young man speak.

"I'll show you the nearby river, Dio. It's a nice place where to rest and read in peace."

_**If you ignore the constant presence of bullies and the chances of drowning there if its too agitated.**_

I gave him a polite nod. "I will wait for that then," I replied with a small smile before returning to follow George to where I was supposed to live for years… until the opportunity to truly strike would appear for me to grasp onto.

Yes, a better plan for higher chances of success against my possible enemies.

Once the old Joestar concluded his brief tour of the living quarters, I was granted some time to unload my baggage in the proper places prepared to hold my personal bearings.

I was quick with this task, but instead of rushing to intervene in the lunch scene that was soon to happen, I decided to sit for a moment on my new bed, feeling tired and somewhat in need of some silence to think about my next few steps.

I wasn't certainly going to try and aim for the Joestar's inheritance, knowing well enough that the gold of the family wasn't enough to deal with the animosity any attempt of usurping the title of heir would create with JoJo.

The young man was naive, not stupid. He might sound flawed, but he still had some inner strengths that were better kept away from being used on me.

But while I didn't sought the acquisition of that money, I was still interested in two things that George could entrust to me given the proper amount of time and influence that I could gain in those few years.

I needed that mask.

I wasn't planning to use it, still wary of losing my logical sense of thought and humanity by accepting a vampiric body, but I still wanted to keep it around for me to study and possibly gain some minor ability from it without fully turning in a blood-sucker.

I needed to have a mean to make a trip to the United States.

If I was quick enough and used my limited knowledge of untapped sources of oil, I could have easily made millions out of little investment, maybe even become a proper replacement for Speedwagon considering I wanted to have little about the current criminal in Ogre Street.

It was all out of respect, of course, as I didn't want to even maim someone as intriguing as the fellow blond, but I couldn't just ignore the opportunity of creating something of a more active Speedwagon Foundation.

Huffing for just a moment, I stood up from my bed with my polite posture restored and my mind preparing for the little lunch event that was going to become another important step to influence JoJo in 'not kill me when the time come'.

What time and when? Now, that is a secret that I wouldn't wish to give out so easily to anyone…

_Unless you are willing to give up__｢__The World__｣__for me~._

**But while our ambiguous protagonist proceeded smoothly in what looked to be an easy beginning in a world ripe for his conquering, Fate had long decided to introduce a new contender to bring balance to the table.**

_**Who is the true antagonist of this story?**_

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**AN**

**This is born out of boredom, might be a oneshot considering my schedule. I will see by the attention it receives and…**

**IT WAS I, BUKHARIN, THAT WROTE THE FIRST DIO SI STORY!**

**Still, before anyone ask, no. It will not be a story were the MC will steamroll his way to success (or at least not until much later on) so… NO ROADROLLER, but expect lots of twists and confusing turning points for the tale of Phantom Blood and so on.**

**I also don't plan to make it too lengthy as I know it would stretch too much the already limited material afforded by Part 1 and 2, so I might do something crazy **_**after**_** I'm done with this story… if I decide to continue.**

**Write down a feedback, even a fart would do, so that I know if the idea is Gud or Not-Gud.**

**Lastly… WRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY, KONO DIO DA!**

**P a treon . com (slash) socialistbukharin**

**k o-fi . com (slash) justbukharin**


	2. Giovinezza (2)

**DISCLAIMER**

**The following is a fan-based**

**FICTION**

**All Parts of the JJBA are all owned by Hirohiko Araki. **

**Please Support the Official Release!**

* * *

**Capitolo Primo: Giovinezza (2)**

* * *

JoJo was much worse that I had expected him to be.

Of course I was referring in terms of manner as, despite considering himself a young gentleman, his early instance of informality when I first met him was… just the tip of a massive and troublesome iceberg.

Albeit trying his best as usual, the issue behind his current state of misery wasn't actually connected to an active intervention of mine against him… but his own father trying his best to create some competition between me and his son.

While he sounded to mean well and I was fairly sure he was trying to be a proper father, his model of 'proper' was antiquate to what it should have been as it was flawed by the ideals imposed by the Victorian Age.

Productivity born from discipline, refined by stern words and actions so that it could led to the 'modern Englishman'.

It was something that had become clear the moment the two of us were trying our first session together for home-schooling.

There was no elementary school, or not a private one considering the wealth the Joestar family was known to have and… that was both a good thing and a terrible one.

Both for me and JoJo.

Textbooks were easy to understand and to complete in little time because of my advanced education and my excellent knowledge of 'future details of the subjects'.

I was quick, too much quick as I noticed while completing the first set of exercises and… I almost caught up with Jojo.

Simple Math problems, I was expecting some easy tasks from this but to actually shrug off three to four pages in less than an hour was… overkill.

I was glad that George didn't think much of it, I was still behind to the topics Jonathan was currently dealing with and, knowing how the competition would rise from that instance, I decided to forcefully hinder my own pace for the sake of avoiding some unpleasant use of the whip the older Joestar had brought for the occasion.

Corporal punishment wasn't certainly somesight I wished to be granted as of now, knowing full well that the least I was turned into the 'cause' of JoJo's suffering, the less I would have to deal with a suspicious and non-trusting young man in the near future.

Instead of denigrating the dark-haired boy, I decided to act on the opposite spectrum and actually give him tips over some of the problems that were keeping him stuck.

It was all done subtly, either when his father excused himself for some urgent meeting, some paperwork that required his attention or mere bathroom breaks.

At first he was skeptical of my advice, rightfully so as I was still 'far behind' his current level of education, but the reckoning of my intervention would happen mere moments after.

The moment he tried to apply those few instructions on paper and then patiently decided to wait for George's correction, Jonathan quickly realized from the man's praise over some of the simplified answers to the exercises assigned were more than a proof of my genuine capacity in doing this kind of homework.

An inquiry ensued after two days of constant helping, about why I was giving him just suggestions and not complete solutions to the exercise.

I snorted calmly at that blunt questioning, my mind so quick to remind me that I was still dealing with a naive young man that was still as pampered and spoiled as any rich boys in Great Britain.

"You are meant to learn from those exercises," I replied with a polite tone. "While I can give you some help, the rest is up to you. Do you wish to grow into a properly-educated man or just rely on everyone without growing out of your current state of mind?"

I could have spared him some mercy over the complicated terms used, but I was gladly confirmed by the following days that he had indeed understood the message I wanted to send through.

Innocent as he was, JoJo was still smart enough to catch up with any important details about his life and, by mentioning 'a properly-educated man', his mind took it as a rightful step to become a 'true gentleman'.

Something that offered me just an insight over his ideal future, his wishes for his adulthood, and I couldn't help but mirthfully consider how he would certainly become one all because of me.

In fact, his interest in keeping an attentive look over any suggestions of mine grew immensely by the time my second lunch here at the Joestar Mansion unfolded, my eyes constantly darting from the boy to his father… before repeating this loop in a more subtle and careful manner.

The first experience was dreadful to look at for multiple reasons.

When I said that JoJo didn't have manners, I wasn't trying to exaggerate or sound overly-pompous. I was trying to curtly summarize the little habit he had during eating, his attempt to rush the food without any care of the world…

Which subsequently got his father to chide him multiple times because of the new circumstances.

Albeit I was considered a 'member of the Joestar Family', my presence here on the first few days was seen more as a guest than that.

I was a fresh spectator which knew about the intricate rules about being mindful by the table, to not act like a complete slob and keep a semi-formal and polite attitude around those times.

Jonathan seemingly missed the memo, or at least he looked like that from the surprised look born from those lectures coming from George.

After that very instance, I decided to give him a simple support in the form of curt instructions.

"JoJo," I muttered while we were retreating by our rooms, the young man that had been looking fairly distressed by the event but was still willing to look up at me. "Next time, I wish for you to follow these little directions. If you do this… your father will not chide you."

The dinner that came to conclude that first day at the mansion proved to be less annoying as the only irritating bits were the mere bantering between father and son.

For being someone that was trying his best to promote friendship and some 'equality', the older Joestar sure knew how to make some poor boy feel even poorer by lightly musing over the 'sad thoughts' he had over the men living in the Rookeries.

Little slums that were a thing in London, nasty places where sanitation didn't exist and… where young boys were forced to accept back-breaking jobs to support their own families, the fiscal weight being far beyond what a miser wage could sustain alone.

What was really infuriating about this was the blatant connection between this topic and me, the way he was so subtly trying to hide the fact that I was here to give him a reason to say around the other nobles about his 'genuine' support for the needy.

And even though I was aware that the reason that got him to accept me in his 'humble home' was actually a legitimate sense of justice for Dio's father **saving** him and his son, that didn't exactly mean he was also restrained from flaunting such development to the elite.

I didn't blame him, the era I was currently living on promoting the 'survival of the fittest' and every detail or opportunity had to be exploited to the maximum effort.

But to actually not mind it? That was a completely different thought.

I could see why Dio disliked George, why he would be quite inclined to kill him the quickest time possible and why his anger was so intense against JoJo.

By seeing how the father behaved around with people with his half-snobbish behavior, the blond couldn't help but seek retribution by targeting aggressively his son and thus, by proxy, attacking George right where his wealth and clout couldn't cover.

His faulty capacity to deal with his own family.

By having him admonish his own son, the old Joestar would find a constant enemy at one, someone that nothing couldn't stop but his own thoughts.

Himself and his grave duties as a British nobleman in 19th century draining out much-needed time to groom his heir in a fine and proper gentleman.

But with me now replacing Dio, I was granted the chance of trying a completely different approach, something that wasn't born out of spite and actually would serve well in my future plans.

With Jonathan starting to latch onto me for help, for him slowly realize that I had answers to questions he didn't know to have, I was trying my best to not only create a possible powerful ally to have here in London, but also someone that wouldn't definitively hunt me if I decided to try the Stone Mask.

_**If he doesn't suffer a tragic event, like the murder of his father, his chances of developing Hamon would be nigh-impossible.**_

Yes, the Hamon, or the Ripple, was still a frightening concept that gave me some issues over the contingencies I could adopt against it.

I knew the weaknesses, I also had an inkling of his true extent… but I was unsure what to do about it.

Training would be interesting, but I was presented with a simple dilemma that could have seriously tampered with any attempt.

While young Dio did have the 'tragic event' in the form of his mother's death that ended up 'refining his willpower' into becoming the greatest possible, I wasn't someone with such predisposition.

Would I still have a chance of practicing the mystical art?

It was something I couldn't certainly try without harming myself, the skill requiring a proper mental and physical preparation to keep up a certain degree of breathing which was best known to be acquired through meditation.

_**Yet I decided to go with an unorthodox but seemingly better method, especially with the opportunity granted me by JoJo himself.**_

When he first referenced the small section of river near the mansion, I had thought of it as an excellent place where to read any important tome alone and in relative peace, but then I ended up thinking of an interesting idea over the river itself.

By the third day of my stay at the mansion, I finally decided to take his offer to visit the local river and… play around.

As a young Dio Brando, my body was incredibly slim, if not frail compared to the healthy appearance of Jonathan's, something that was best highlighted when we decided to go for a swim.

The swimwear was actually pretty awkward, the little half-sleeved suit proving to be incredibly uncomfortable to use around and it offered little defense against the cold but peaceful stream of this small river.

JoJo was elated when I offered him some swimming lessons, something else to do instead of waddling around with Danny and maybe learn something important that could help him in any accident.

The 'drowning' episode seemingly urging him to try and master swimming to the fullest, thus making my offer the most enticing possible for this desire of his.

The first day was… interesting.

Since he knew how to stay afloat and knew the basis behind the Front Crawl, I decided to give him some minor clues how to perfect his current capacity with the freestyle before giving him the first instructions to try Backstroke.

It was a mirthful experience that was augmented by the presence of the Great Dane, Danny joining those sessions without being too much of a pest.

The playful pup keeping himself from interrupting the boy as he went through some important tasks, but would jump in action to try and get some attention from the two of us when we were done with our respective training.

Of course these sessions were supposed to happen under my supervision and there was no budging from that very position.

I had to pester the Joestar intensively over this very detail as I certainly didn't want to be responsible for killing the heir of a wealthy nobleman because I was too reckless over the safety for this simple swimming lessons.

The river itself, even though calm most of the time, has already been known to have turned dangerous during rainy days and I didn't want for Jonathan to stupidly walk into his early grave.

Funny to consider that I, Dio, would have to keep a careful watch over the dark-haired boy to avoid his premature death.

Kind of ironic.

Still, despite the little progress accomplished with JoJo, I was more than relieved when my own body responded well to three days of swimming in that cold river.

I was still shivering, but I could start to grow more accustomed to the size of my limbs and my weaker stamina, this last bit slowly increasing each sessions as I focused more and more about it.

My lungs were starting to improve under the careful strain, but my journey to even start to aspire for some Hamon ability was sure a far one considering the high requirements imposed by such a helpful skill.

It was also curious that, while I would always make sure that we were alone during those moments, I could distinctly feel like if someone was spying on us.

I couldn't perceive any malicious intent and… yet the intense staring was starting to get me on edge at how repetitive this occurrence was.

By the second session I had also given a thorough look of the surroundings of the area we were using for the swimming training, but the mysterious figure either disappeared much before or didn't even exist to begin with.

Confusing, suspicious and incredibly annoying as I didn't want to deal with any of the little bullies lingering around that were stealing from those few individuals wandering by the nearby bridge.

Still, I finally managed to get some much-needed rest by the fifth day as we weren't allowed to leave the warm walls of the mansion.

When morning struck there was a loud and foggy rain persevering over these lands and George, albeit interested in this new hobby taken by both his son and me, was rightfully concerned over the possibility of seeing one of us, or both, fall ill if we even decided to spend wandering under this rainy day.

So we were both forced to spend the day indoors, with JoJo deciding to spend most of the day after lunch continuing to train with Math problems and Literature constructs from Shakespeare on his own, and thus leaving me to do whatever I wanted for the rest of the day… until dinner.

This little window of opportunity was important for my current thoughts as I finally decided to consider what I could do to improve my current fighting capacity.

I needed to have a proper mean to defend myself, especially if one of my first objectives once we were allowed to leave for London was to explore Ogre Street and see what Wang Chan was selling in his shop other than rare poisons.

For some reason, I felt like the content of that emporium, ignoring the cursed and dangerous trinkets lying there for unfortunate clients to buy, still had some interesting objects that I could use in my little rise to the greatest pedestal.

Lying on my new bed, my sore back enjoying the pleasant sensation offered by the comfy mattress and pillows, I started to think endlessly over what I was really trying to accomplish here with my mission.

Conquering the world? That was a must considering the opportunities granted by the circumstance… but why was I truly trying to attain something this high?

Why not stop to a lower step-

No, I couldn't even think of besmirching the essential chances of dominating the politics, the minds of this reckless world.

Was it a dormant desire of this body? Was I influenced by the fact I was now Dio Brando?

No, it was more. _**It had to be more.**_

Beyond my JoJo's knowledge, I was also aware of the world as a whole, about the World Wars, about the horrible war crimes committed by corrupt or insane dictators and politicians; the dreadful deaths caused by the greedy desires of fools deigned with some unfair clout over some major landmasses.

Was I dreaming about world-peace?

_**Can I stomach the costs of such horrible burden, to become the monster for some and the God for others?**_

The question itself proved to be without answers- no, it was the very query which I had the answer but for some reason not even in my thoughts I could grant.

I felt numb as I quietly stared at the ceiling of this room of mine, but not tired enough to contemplate any possible rest as things were right now.

I was restless and… bored.

I needed to do something instead of losing my minds in those thoughts, to aspire to something a little more important and unquestionable.

I needed something simple but… essential.

Standing up from the mattress, my back already aching a little at being moved out of the pleasant texture of the pure white sheets, my orange-eyed stare was soon fixed on the lone pen put there on my little wooden desk.

I blinked, thinking about the chances of writing something or maybe even draw something out of my currently-dull mind

To what sense and to what purpose?

I felt clueless over any possible activities and then… I had the little pen on my fingers.

It was clean, no ink loaded in it as I slowly twisted and turned the tiny object around… and around.

For some reason the mindless act was mesmerizing, something that caught my attention in that endless spinning and-

I blinked, something curious finally clicking in my mind and I stopped the pen just for a moment, my eyes widening as I started to swiftly elaborate what I could try to accomplish with this little suggestion born from curiosity and intrigue.

Would it work? This trick was, after all, conceived by Araki as a replacement to Hamon, a reference to it and… what if?

I hummed quietly, my eyes scanning over the surface of the elaborate pen and… I had my fingers over a spherical detail on its design.

Detaching it proved to be fairly easy and I was granted a little specimen to try and use for this little experiment of mine, something that could easily fail but… technically I had no reason to not give it a try.

But before I give it a first try, I decided to give myself a little advantage by trying to get the representation of what I was trying to achieve down on paper.

Drawing something that required that much precision with just a piece of paper and old ink pen, without rulers or other precision tools, took me almost an hour of constant failing to ultimately obtain and… this wasn't even the real first step.

With a calm breath, I slowly began spinning the sphere on my palm and… nothing was happening during the first two hours of constant trying.

I wasn't actively pursuing anything out of it, the Spin being something that was far more confusing and complicated to obtain during the first few times.

It wasn't Hamon, it wasn't born out of something truly mystical, but by the rules of science applied in a bizarre method of capacity.

The Spin was the creation of energy through rotation to a degree close to the Golden Rectangle, the culmination being the Golden Spin.

The complex nature of mastering such ability was… actually worth of facing against as the results it would yield would immensely improve my chances of success.

The Golden Spin not only granted the ability of using the infinite energy gained from the perfect rotation, but it also materialized the user's stands, if not evolving it if there was one already within the user.

So, despite the multiple failures registered until dinner, this little activity became an interesting one to try out during the next two days, the rain lasting for that much and… it finally happened.

By the seventh day spent here at the Joestar Mansion, I, Dio, managed to finally gain my own mean to defend myself against any foe that wished for my demise.

The little steel sphere I had recovered from the pen was spinning and… emitting some little light.

Like a barrier, it was coating the proximity of it, portraying the might held within such a simple activity while the object kept with its rotation.

I slowly moved out of the chair, the Spin energy maintaining its hovering state over my open palms as I made my way by the window and I carefully pried open the little piece of glass.

The rain had softened its banging just now, only a few drops of water continuing with its natural fall but the sight was clear as I glanced at the three growing just outside my room.

The steel ball seemed unfazed by my maneuvering and it properly slipped away from my palms and onto my right index and middle fingers as I took aim at one of the numerous tree branches onto said tree.

There was no one around to see this scene and I carefully glanced at the target with accuracy and-

Before I could finish with the preparations, I felt the sphere _blast away_ from my fingertips, causing a little cut on my index finger, flying straight towards the tree.

I had taken too much time admiring the complex nature of such phenomenon to actually consider the need of stabilizing its form with more spinning, but my surprise turned in dreadful shock when I noticed where it was directed towards.

It wasn't the branch I was aiming for, no, it was the little section of the three from which the branches were coming from.

The powerful attack slammed onto the upper area of the trunk, wooden splinters exploding from the impact as a brief smokeless explosion tore onto two of the branches' connection, forcing them to come down to the cold and muddy ground below.

My jaws dropped at the sight, my mind going blank for just a moment as I realized that… the steel ball had been a small one.

It's diameter was more or less 2mm and… that was the damage I had achieved with such a tiny sphere?!

I closed the window, my stunned expression persisting even after I had calmly returned to lie onto my bed and… I blinked twice.

What I just saw was… powerful- no, _**overpowered**_considering the current degree of danger I was now facing.

There were no Zombies, no Vampires and no Stands just yet, I was facing mere humans.

I… I think I made a positive mistake, a mistake for… the best.

Was it even possible? To make a good mistake?

My lips twitched, a mirthful noise groaning in my throat and I quickly had my hand pressing on my lips.

It was a fruitless effort, my lips parting as a muffled chuckle started to turn in a full-blown laugh.

I- I managed to do something that immense and… so little.

I, Dio, was now capable of defending myself!

This realization kept me amused for some few more minutes and then my mind decided to ruin my fun by reminding me of two distinct issues:

1) I could have exploded if I hadn't the ball by my fingertips, the sphere would have propelled upwards and… into my face if I hadn't moved quickly;

2) My aim had been completely off my a large margin, the section damage way too far from where I was trying to hit.

Even with these rightful thoughts that were pointing out the flaws of my first 'successful' attempt, I had also to consider that I was way behind Johnny when he achieved the Spin for the first time.

He had spent just a day to get it going and… mastering it was going to take much more than just a handful of days.

I didn't have a Stand that worked with this specific kind of powers, nor I expected **｢The World｣** to be able to achieve such a degree of compatibility with the Spin.

But despite that, a certain content smile managed to almost appear even during dinner, my concentration over my current expressions faltering for a moment at the mere mentioning in my brain over what had just happened.

JoJo noticed the smile, I could see some surprise in his face, while his father merely nodded at himself, smiling as he went through his own share of the food.

**A week has passed since Dio has arrived to the Joestar Mansion, his role now of a guide than an invader, of a guardian than a mockingbird. **

**But tomorrow is a new day and George Joestar has planned to visit London for that very morning, unaware that his son and Dio will have to face quite the interesting encounters…**

_**With good people and terrible enemies.**_

_**-To be continued…**_

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**AN**

**I've promised a second chapter if the feedback ended up positive and… here it is!**

**Dio grows accustomed in his first week at the Joestar Mansion, his main objective of gaining strength, wealth and influence by actually keeping himself 'away from suspicion'.**

**But the danger is around the corner and… sometimes the series never mentioned some details over the obstacles for Dio to destroy to become top-dog in these first few years in the series.**

**Beware of the unknown… and of the known.**

**Lastly, the spin. No, Dio has not achieved the level of control to use it during a fight, the level of concentration he currently requires to make use of it being far too fragile to hold against the pressure of a battle. So no, we ain't overpowering him just yet and… he is just euphoric up above with his thoughts.**

**Ultimately, I have to say this as I think it will be cool…**

_**Do you believe in Gravity, my dear readers? Also, what about Cake?**_

**P a treon . com (slash) socialistbukharin**

**k o-fi . com (slash) justbukharin**

**REVIEW Q&A!**

**The Lazy Dragon****: I said 'early on'. Expect lots of Mudas and WRYs after this first arc. 'Giovinezza' is translated as 'Youth' afterall.**

**LukeSky001****: Because the current owner of the stone is a Ripple User (presumably Tonpetty) and it would be awkward to 'get it' without facing the rest of the group.**


	3. Giovinezza (3)

**DISCLAIMER**

**The following is a fan-based**

**FICTION**

**All Parts of the JJBA are all owned by Hirohiko Araki. **

**Please Support the Official Release!**

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**Capitolo Primo: Giovinezza (3)**

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When George announced that today we were all going for a brief trip in central London, I felt incredibly nervous and confused over the sudden decision.

While I could understand the need of someone of his standing having to visit regularly the capital for whatever tasks would require his own presence, I was quite perplexed by the necessity of having both me and JoJo to join him in this endeavor.

I could see why Jonathan needed to go as he was his heir, but I was a completely unimportant element for any instances requiring the Joestar Family out of their home as I didn't truly matter in the big chessboard of nobility.

But maybe I was looking at this predicament from a far too cynical and logical scheme, ignoring that JoJo's father was also a parent with a hint of friendliness to everyone that was little and innocent, just like 'I was'. Even if I was close to achieve fourteen years old.

Albeit awkward, I wouldn't deny this kind of reasoning as it was the closest to give me a proper insight upon this situation I was forced to deal with.

Donning my 'good clothes' and a little hat that the man had decided to gift me earlier that day, we were all quick to enter the carriage set to reach London, Jonathan and I picking one of the sides while his father was seated in front of us.

Once again my nose was greeted with the pungent scent of mud, musk and the humidity created by the last few days of rain, giving me a sense of annoyance over the state of transports for this time period.

Cars technically existed, but these were mostly prototypes and, while I would lose myself over whom was the true inventor of the modern vehicle, I was certainly sure that it would take at best another decade or two to see a functioning car around in England.

So there wasn't any hope to avoid the unpleasant sensations of these necessary trips, finding this development to be as saddening as interesting.

My mind was quick to consider 'doing something about it', but then again I didn't have the 'means' to just convince people I just 'stumbled over those theories'.

Yes, theories. The construction of a proper car needed some basis over the engine, the chassis, the handling and other minor elements that would take me too long to describe, each needing various formulas to make intellectuals understand where I was going with it.

And while I was unquestionably Dio, I wasn't a glorified Wikipedia with a solution to everything and I was also lacked of the proper charisma to 'hypnotize' my public without getting some unneeded questions from them.

This little pondering added with the greater conversation I entertained in my mind, trying to give the least interactions with both JoJo and George as to not show how much irked I was of my current predicament.

It was the Spin that got me from not going insane in this very unique situation, my mind granting me the silence of thought to start and consider what I could do with this new ability.

Not much with what I currently knew about the world around me, maybe the trip could offer the opportunity to have me wandering in one of the various libraries in the city and see if I could recover some books about humans' and animals' anatomy, at least a base version to get me started over the full potential of the Spin.

It wouldn't be wrong to say that the original purpose of the skill was to maim people, the first users being war-knights from medieval ages, but it would be a massive misunderstanding to limit its real prowess to just aggressive attacking.

Gregorio Zeppeli had been the prime example of medic capable of using medicine in conjunction with the Spin as a mean to guarantee a peaceful demise for the death row prisoners that needed to be executed.

A brutal usage of the energy, but that didn't certainly denied the possibility of using it actually to heal people.

It was a crude consideration with the lack of proper study from my part; a mere theory born from curiosity and ingenuity from the first approach at the unique skill, but given time and some effort over it, I was sure going to get around the means to use the energy created by the Spin for such important topics.

Yet the Spin wasn't my only priority. Hamon was still something I needed to somehow gain control of, the capacity offered by the 'original' ability would grant me the opportunity to not only heal myself and others, but also boost my overall physical capacities.

That is ignoring the already beneficial increase of my lifespan if I continued to train rigorously with the Ripple.

Still, without proper instructions, the only thing I could achieve right now is a control over my breath, over my lungs, and I would require a teacher to give me the proper means to achieve the rest of the requirements to unlock the real deal.

But how was I supposed to find a teacher here in England? Tompetty and his apprentices were still in India as of now and… they would only come here if a report of the Stone Mask was ever to reach them.

An incredible dilemma that was sadly and abruptly interrupted in that very moment while I was lost in my thoughts.

"Dio," George spoke with a curious tone, his blue eyes were displaying little intrigue over my lack of reaction to the discussion he had been enjoying with his son, even JoJo looking interested at me. "Is there something that worries you?"

That was a pretty direct question coming from him, incredibly blunt and enough to garner a surprised look by orange eyes.

"I was just thinking about London," I said, shuffling nervously as I tried my best to shift my 'nervousness' over to the first time in the city. I couldn't certainly deny my uneasiness, thus I merely 'turned it' in some 'childish excitement'. "I've never visited the central districts."

"Truly? Your father never-"

"J-Jojo!" The older Joestar chided with a light stutter, seemingly stunned by his son's blunt attempt to inquire over the matter. "You know better than bringing up this kind of subjects!"

There was a brief moment of silence, a wide-eyed Jonathan looking mortified and embarrassed by this restrained outburst, then he stared at his feet and blinked with a saddened look in his eyes.

"It's alright," I stated with a calm but not completely unfazed tone. "I _think_ I can stomach hearing about my father. I shouldn't be tied down to the past and stop because of a… mentioning."

I couldn't certainly look disinterested by the memory of Dario Brando, despite the 'deserved' demise of the man, everyone still knew that it had been an illness that took the 'good fellow' out of his misery.

I nodded, gaining a surprised but worried look from George, the man ultimately sighing before I continued.

"The reason why I never visited was because I spent most of the time nearby home while father was out working," I decided to answer with a slightly more normal tone, still hinting at some uneasiness at discussing about this with my careful voice. "At first it was to help mother, then when she… passed away, I had to take on the various chores while father wasn't there."

"If I remember correctly, there was a time when… your father wasn't capable of working before he passed away," George threaded carefully with this specific query. "I hope the good man had saved some money to help you while he was stuck in bed."

I actually blinked at that, not because I was trying to imagine the ugly mug of that bastard as he lied on his deathbed, but because I thought about a very curious question about it.

If Dario had been spending most of the money in booze, how did Dio secure enough coin to buy some poison from Wang Chan when-

I blinked again, actually forcing myself to appear relaxed as I leaned back on the stiff pillow of the carriage. "Father had some money saved up. It was enough to keep up even after his passing."

There was in fact some money within the baggage that I had when I woke up a week ago, just enough to keep me fed for three days of small eating, but it was still considerable considering the heavy-spending in alcohol imposed by the now-deceased Dario Brando.

But still not enough to mention the buying of some poison from the Asian shop-keeper.

I had a theory and, while the two Joestars accepted the end of such conversation in an awkward tone, I deemed it fit to contemplate in that very moment about this very peculiarity.

The poison hadn't been bought by coin or favors, no… it had been sympathy.

I had forgotten until now that Wang Chan didn't follow Dio out of awe or for the boy's charisma, but rather the similarity to a 'horrible man' he had met back in China.

Someone that lived a harsh life, but managed up until 183 years of existence.

A malicious individual, I certainly needed to find where the fool kept his little lair, where he was keeping his more important objects and hopefully kill him before he could poise a problem for my plans.

I wasn't certainly letting someone as slimy as the man avoid some proper 'justice', or better- some proper 'retribution' for his own evil nature.

Pondering over this subject also brought up some interesting concepts I had ignored up until now, the most important being the fact I should technically be able to enter Ogre Street.

Albeit it's been a week since I've moved in with the Joestars, however Dio managed to be considered worth of no issues in that distraught piece of the capital, I should still be able to have a 'safe' access to it.

I just needed time and some more trust from George before trying to give it a lone exploration.

After spending so much time alone with my own thoughts, I was granted some relief in the form of the carriage coming to a halt and… we were here.

The old Joestar was the first one to leave, leading both me and JoJo out to see the less-advanced version of…

I blinked as I took a moment to admire the familiar building visible from the distance, realizing that we were in Westminster, precisely on the road of Whitehall.

Having studied intensively the English Parliament back home, I was familiar with the general area of Central London, but to be this close to the place where the main branch of the government was set, I couldn't help but partially muse over the politicians currently sitting there.

It was 1881, so it had to be… the second Gladstone cabinet's era.

Very interesting, this was the first time I pondered over the politics of where I was since I came here.

Why is it important? Well, let's just say that what ensued from leaving the carriage could be considered as connection to the national government as George's destination was the Colonial Office.

It was odd as a place to for him to visit as I was fairly sure that the Joestar family didn't have any major ranks attached to politics, only with trade, but then I connected this to the fact that the British Empire's trade was regulated by that specific branch of the government and… I wasn't allowed to visit its insides.

Jojo's father was keen to point out that the place was meant for 'children' and that his duty required him and only him, thus bringing anyone else would bring no little issue over the formal request he had planned to get through with.

Something about South Africa, the various colonies with base at Cape Town still far from being a sole entity in the rising years of the British's colonial empire.

But that didn't matter much for me right now, especially since I was deprived of the chance of seeing some of the historical figures working in this major building and… it wasn't only about the Colonial Office.

This headquarters was also the site where India Office, the Home Office and the Foreign Office have been all instated, so that made the place even more an endearing place to visit and look around in.

Sadly, this opportunity was killed before it could have been requested to the man, thus leaving both me and JoJo to stay by the carriage while he went to deal with this arduous bureaucratic mess for his next work.

We were allowed to stay outside of the vehicle, but we were bluntly ordered to not wander away from the proximity of the carriage itself.

A little annoying, but considering the state of London right now, I wasn't going to mind to wait for a better opportunity to buy some books.

Considering the fact he had brought JoJo for the occasion even though he wasn't meant to be there with him, that didn't exactly mean George hadn't planned to do something else for the both of us.

Not only to make it worth for Jonathan, but to also see what kind of objects I could seriously take into consideration as 'gifts'.

But while I was keen to keep myself from breaking the simple but terribly-limiting rules, my dark-haired and naive peer was completely irritated by the waiting time that was meant to pass for his father to return.

Even though he was a nobleman, George wasn't someone with a connection with politics and it was correct to say that he wouldn't be returning any moment before two to three hours from that instance.

Which then sparked even more boredom-induced annoyance from the young Joestar, causing me to start to regret having directly refused to join this slow torture.

I was fine with the waiting, that was something I had already said more than enough, but Glorious Heavens I was starting to regret the whining coming from Jonathan.

It was an unpleasant puppy-like whining that persisted even when the boy decided to retreat back inside the carriage, deciding to try and rest considering the long time needed to see his father return, and leaving me alone outside to… do nothing in particular.

Actually part of me had wanted to enter inside the carriage too, maybe defusing JoJo's irritating comments by presenting him with some simple game like Rock, Paper and Scissors, maybe something else and… I stopped when I heard a loud noise coming from my proximity.

It was a loud thud, something muffled by a door, this one left half-open and… I glanced momentarily up to the banner above the entrance.

'_**Oriental Mysteries and Tomes**__'_

I blinked confusedly at the words, confused by the fact something like this… shop existed in this important part of the city.

Since when the government allowed this kind of situations to exist, especially with how harsh some of the rules currently were with non-British people?

I finally looked inside and… I froze when I saw quite the big knife resting onto the wooden counter of the shop, the owner of such blade engaging in a furious spiel directed at the calm shop-keeper looking at him.

The owner of this establishment had a tanned skin, a few wrinkles on his face and… he looked incredibly familiar with his exotic clothes.

In fact, it looked like someone… I knew about from the series.

Still, despite the curious development, I didn't certainly try to step inside the building that was the current scene of a robbery.

Keeping myself close to the carriage as I looked at the unfolding of the situation from afar, while also thinking about trying to find any police officer nearby.

Sadly, this very thought was dashed when I looked around and there were just too many people by the Whitehall headquarters for the guards standing there to notice the situation that was happening just nearby.

The nervousness of the robber seemed to turn into anger, the partially-visible face of the younger man sporting some furious red as he started to raise his voice with the shop-owner, the Indian man seemingly unfazed by this outburst and… proceeded to display quite the unexpected conclusion to this sight.

The foreigner lifted his hand over the knife's hilt with shocking speed, touching it with the his index fingertip and… I could see the tip glowing.

It was faint, but the effect was so surreal that it was a clear explanation of the subsequent blade being flung so suddenly away from the counter and away from sight, deeper in the shop.

Leaving the robber defenseless to deal with the stronger-looking man in front of him, the British man paling at the scene as his anger was replaced by shock and fear.

No more words were muttered, the criminal turned tail and rushed outside from the shop, barely noticing my presence outside as he ran the fastest his legs could allow him too and… leaving me to face quite the odd aftermath.

Once the robber had left my proximity and my sight, I slowly returned to stare at the shop-keeper and… the owner was looking back at me with a calm expression.

I felt a shivers, maybe two, going down my spine as I returned the glance with a surprised and perplexed look, feeling almost compelled to take steps inside the shop, mesmerized by the very possible solution to my current main issues.

The energy he used, the yellow-like glow, it had to be it. It had to be Hamon.

I gulped nervously, despite my best efforts to keep calm while entering inside the building, my own mind had little means to defend against the piercing look displayed by the Indian man, my orange eyes fixed on his own orbs and… I stopped by the counter.

"Do you wish to buy something?" The deep voice coming from the owner asked, getting me out from that hypnotic step and back to reality.

I didn't reply at his question at first, frowning at him with a suspicious look.

"What did you use to… move that knife?" I asked carefully, trying my best to keep my queries curt and cautious enough to-

"My fingers."

The reply partially stunned me on the spot, my eyes widening as I felt tricked by the stone-looking expression on his face.

"That… glow was_ only _your fingers?"

"Yes," He commented quietly. "Do you have any other questions?"

He was testing me. There was no way in Unholy Hell that this wasn't just a test to gauge my interest with the way he was 'joking around the matter', maybe to evaluate what kind of moral code I was abiding before reacting.

But what was the solution of such general exam? What kind of answers was he seeking from me?

I blinked, looking up again from my thoughts and back to him. "What if I have an ability similar to yours?"

It was mostly a lie, but I didn't need to make it look like I had Hamon, only that I had my own 'special' skill to display.

Curiosity glinted from his eyes, but he didn't reply at this, letting some moments of quiet passing before I decided that words were no longer needed.

Slowly I pulled a small steel sphere I had recovered earlier that day from another pen in my room, a mean to use the Spin in case of self-defense or… to display such an ability to this man.

At this point, there was no doubt about it, my certainty to display this little secret born out from more than a mere suspicion, I was in fact looking at someone that closely resembled Tonpetty, the Tibetan Monk that was teaching Zeppeli, Straizo and Dire.

Another Hamon-user monk? Considering the decades-old close contacts the British Empire had with Tibet, I wouldn't be surprised if one or more monks had decided to leave their country to search more disciples.

Without wasting too much time over my thoughts, I finally started to spin the little sphere and, after just a minute or two, the energy was indeed forming around the little steel object, this time my attention mostly directed at the phenomenon to not cause any unnecessary explosive reaction at this demonstration.

Much to my delight, I managed to subdue the spinning quickly enough to avoid any dangerous escalations, ready to see his surprise at such situation and-

I blinked at the hand the Indian man was holding up, the open palm was tense as yellow electricity seemed to be coursing around his fingertips, a certain mysterious golden aura coating the entire hand.

"It's not the Ripple," He mused loudly enough for me to hear, his thoughts dripping out as he noticed my staring. "What's the name of that technique, young man?"

His voice displayed some intrigue, enough to get me stunned by the unexpected voice before I finally delivered a quick answer.

"I-It's called the Spin," I replied half-surprised. "I-I learned about this from a tome my father brought from his f-family in Italy."

A half-lie, something mixed between the lie of the Spin being a Brando's family secret but also honest when saying it was from Italy.

If the man had been convinced or not, he didn't give any sign of it as he was already going forward with his inquiry.

"And you wish to learn about my own technique, the Ripple," He mentioned with an interested look on his face. "Even though you have this 'Spin'?"

I blinked, I could see the ambush he was lying here for me, yet I was already prepared to deal with this.

"I-It's ineffective, it requires a sphere and the time and precision needed to finalize even the basic use is-"

"The Ripple is dangerous if the user isn't capable of keeping up with the training regiment for the rest of his life," The foreigner quickly interjected. "You ask from me to give trust, yet I can see resemblances of multiple masks, each with familiar yet different names."

I tensed up at this final comment, terrified by the possibility that, somehow, the Ripple was capable of reading thoughts away from the man's physical reach.

It was nigh-impossible to believe such a feat, yet… I was also aware that Caesar did use the Hamon to manipulate a living being to attack Joseph, so maybe it wasn't truly far-fetched as an idea.

Then… was he aware of my circumstances? Not yet, or at least not at the fullest from the lack of shock considering my unique predicament.

But what was I supposed to do from this point? If he knew even a sliver of what I was made of, _what I planned to do_, then what hope did I have to actually leave that discussion with a satisfactory result?

…

No.

I sighed, my eyes and face steeling altogether before the intrigued man and I prepared myself for what I had to do.

"I wish to conquer the Heavens, to become one with divinity," I proclaimed with a serious voice, my soul rocking in chorus with my determination. "For I believe myself the harbinger of true peace and justice in this world."

There was silence, the shop-keeper looked uncaring at my words.

"I don't care at this point if you will accept my genuine offer of friendship or not," I continued without hesitation. "But if you wish to waste my time by playing the fool, then do so without me in your proximity."

ゴ  
ゴ  
ゴ  
ゴ

More silence, yet this time the man leaned on the counter and… smiled.

"This… was an honest reply," He judged with a nod, seemingly pleased by the development while he ignored my irritated expression now deepening even more. "Despite the immense task you are trying to burden yourself with, I fail to see any malicious intent, nor I see… any outstanding good in you."

What was he talking about?

I was half-tempted to speak out once again about this maddening cryptic tone, yet he beat me by speaking once again.

"You wish to bring novelty, to bring prosperity but it's not out of good from your heart, nor greed or any important driving force that got many great men and women to go through their obstacles," He commented with a growing sense of elation. "You- You have a certain light within you, something that is not at the service of good nor you are succumbing to evil."

He paused again, this time his eyes narrowing intensively at me.

"**What are you, Dio Brando?**"

ゴ  
ゴ  
ゴ  
ゴ

I should have tensed, I should have submitted at the pressure, far greater than anything I've ever felt… but my body didn't bent nor broke before it.

I felt standing strong, I felt my heart drumming right onto my ears as I continued to return the stare with the same intensity.

Was this the determination that made the Joestar family so strong against the adversities, was this what is driving me right now?

_**For I, Dio, was finding an excellent fire within this to spark my unwavering strength and willpower!**_

"I am the one that will bring true change to this world," I affirmed with undeniable might in my words, giving emphasis to each syllables and enforcing my will onto my voice. "I am Dio."

The silent staring returned for some more moments, the man staring mirthfully at me as his lips twitched upwards while increasing the wide of his current smile.

"You… you are indeed Dio, young man," He admitted without hesitation, almost relieved by this. Before he could continued, his left hand wandered down below his side of the counter and… then brought up a large book.

It was old, there were strings of leather keeping it shut close and… I couldn't help but stare at the curious inner warmth born from merely staring at this tome.

It was a nice kind of warmth, it was one that promised me hopes of success and… self-realization.

"You will do as my new apprentice, Dio Brando," The shop-keeper announced with a calm tone. "Your mission of peace and justice… shall make my efforts spent teaching you worth if not more."

I approached the book, the man now offering it with a certain urgency and I took it quickly in my palms.

It was heavy, quite the burden for my young arms but I was still well-capable of holding it close to my chest.

"There will be numerous obstacles, as many as possible to make the final reward as just as possible for you and I will watch over your growth from now on," He stated resolutely. "Continue down this road, young man, I wish to see you succeed in this great road to a brighter world."

I felt… endeared by the positive words, making me nod back at the man as I found myself smiling at this.

"I- I will do this, I will achieve the ultimate success!"

A final smile appeared on his face, the man already gesturing me to leave the shop as I turned around and reached back to the entrance.

I stopped for a moment, my head turning to look at him one last time.

"What is your name, teacher?" I asked quietly, feeling a little drained from this bizarre encounter. "How should I refer you as?"

The smile slightly faded and he sighed. "My name, young man, is… Muddiburi."

I nodded as the door closed behind me, my head spinning right back to the carriage as I slowly made my way inside and… entered it, glad to find a sleeping Jonathan as my first sight inside.

With a soft hum building up, I slowly placed the tome behind the little back-pillow that I had to use for the way of return from this trip, hopefully going to happen quite quickly once JoJo was done with buying his own stuff.

Staring at the sleeping JoJo, I couldn't help but let myself rest for a while, knowing that it would take some more time to see George return to the Carriage.

_And for some reason, my dreams were ruled by a dominant factor. It was a sphere spinning so quickly and brightly, but… it was immaterial and it was… __**heavenly to look at.**_

**But while Dio was convinced that this day had been turned memorable by this encounter, Fate had long set the first few obstacles before his journey, some familiar… others not.**

_**Sometimes your worst enemy is the one stuck at your same class.**_

_**-To be continued…**_

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**AN**

**I decided to not stray too much with Muddiburi's name. The origin of the name is an alteration of a nickname Tom Petty (the singer that was used as a reference for Tonpetty) which is Muddy Wilbury.**

**Quick replies so no one will have trouble- Nah, I know someone will still ask because some people just skip the AN so, for those that still looks here, here are some quick answers:**

**Q:**** Is Dio a prodigy of using the Spin? **

**A:**** No, the display of stopping the spinning is fairly easy since he used little spinning energy. It's more difficult to actually use the Spin in its better-known and explosive capacity than merely spinning something to generate some energy.**

**Q****: Is the Antagonist another Self-Insert?**

**A****: No. While I thought about putting an antagonistic SI before writing the first chapter, I decided to settle with numerous enemies that will appear around the story. Some are known, either from the series or from history, while others will be born out from the little things we know about Dio's early life.**

**And after this, some simple question about your daily life: **_**How many breads have you eaten in your life?**_

**P.S. Next chapter might take a while. I think I will have the next update going by this Saturday (February 22), which is why this chapter was posted so quickly after the second.**

**P a treon . com (slash) socialistbukharin**

**k o-fi . com (slash) justbukharin**

**REVIEW Q&A!**

**LukeSky001****: It's a maybe.**

**The Lazy Dragon****: I don't think the Spin does manipulate the creation of the Stand. But I might be more inclined to believe it will be like Tusk ACTs so… yeah, I'm still thinking about this.**


	4. Giovinezza (4)

**DISCLAIMER**

**The following is a fan-based**

**FICTION**

**All Parts of the JJBA are all owned by Hirohiko Araki. **

**Please Support the Official Release!**

* * *

**Capitolo Primo: Giovinezza (4)**

* * *

I was already starting to get tired after spending these hours to rest in that uncomfortable seat.

Waking up just in time to notice George boarding the carriage, I blinked swiftly as I gave a nod to the man while he took his previous seat in the vehicle.

The nobleman gave a little smile as I carefully moved to shake Jojo off from his own sleep.

The young man was snoring fairly loudly, but seemed to react accordingly as I grasped his arm and carefully pulled at it as he almost jumped in surprise, blue eyes going wide open as he realized what was going on.

"F-Father, I-" He bowed his head, a little embarrassed at being caught in such a manner. "I'm sorry."

George merely smiled and nodded.

"There is nothing wrong in catching some rest considering the long time you both had to wait," He said with a calm tone.

The boy adjusted himself on his little seat, nodding thankful about those words as the carriage began to move, horses neighing as they started to pull the vehicle out of the important street and back inside the maze of streets that was Central London.

I blinked away from Jonathan and back to George as I felt particularly curious about his trip at the Colonial Office, my mind drawing multiple possible trade routes that the man could have drawn from that visit.

"Lord Joestar, I hope your efforts resulted in a success," I began to say with a polite tone, knowing well-enough to not blurt anything that could ruin the current respectful image I was trying to built for myself to the man's eyes.

The noble blinked in what looked to be a sign of being caught off-guard by my words, possibly surprised by the partial interest I was showing over the particularly-'boring' subject.

"Quite so, Dio. In fact, I can say that it concluded in the best positive outcome," He mentioned with a hum. "Albeit not every trade points have been recognized as legitimately under the family's control, we got some of the main sections by Rangoon, just like I had hoped to get."

Burma? An interesting choice.

The colony within the British Raj had the main purpose as a 'gate' between China and India, trade was almost as strong as it was in Calcutta, Bombay and Ceylon.

I nodded. "I'm happy to hear this, then."

I had hoped for the discussion to die there as I just wanted to give some words before quietly resuming my glancing by the little window near where I was sitting.

Sadly, I had almost forgotten that George wouldn't certainly waste this opportunity to take a shot at his own son, especially since, as far as I was aware of, Jojo had never displayed any interest in the trading business captained by his father.

"Are you perhaps interested in learning some more about the group I've created, Dio?" The man proposed with a hint of genuine eagerness about the possibility. "Given some time and effort, I can see you working as one of the higher officers for the organization."

_**Can you truly see me ending up like that?**_

Accepting such a limiting job because of mercy rather than true merit just felt like he had given me an unplanned punch right onto my stomach.

I was unsure how much 'naive' the man truly was about the 'dignity' of having a job, mostly because I knew that this very idea wasn't much known in these years.

The concept of workers having some 'pride' over their labors was still far from entering the English mindset and the only ones in Europe that were just aware of it were the Germans after Karl Marx started to preach about it with the Communist Manifesto.

So I merely blinked. "It's… a flattering offer, Lord Joestar," I started with a smooth but soft voice. "But if it isn't too much asking, I would like to have some time to think about it as I don't feel much comfortable to think about this important decision so… suddenly."

Once again I decided to rely on the fact I was a 'simple child' before the man's eyes, knowing full well that hesitation and doubts were something entrenched in young mindsets and thus leaving me to weaponize my appearance for such reasonable point.

He nodded kindly, showing some understanding behind my logic.

"It's not something you need to decide now, and I don't think you will have to for at least a couple more of years," The noble assured with a fatherly tone, then glancing at the curious look on Jonathan's face. "Just like I've said to JoJo back when I first brought him to see the Colonial Office."

The young man nodded in response as to confirm this and I found myself relaxing at this lax pressure over the matter itself.

I didn't certainly need to be pushed to take a job as restricting as that one, especially if it wasn't one where I had a large control over things.

I was destined for greatness, but that kind of work, albeit filled with unquestionable benefits for those living in this era, was still too 'small' for what I had planned to do with my future.

My future lied out of England, out of the zenith years of the British Empire and elsewhere.

Europe was filled with possibilities, but so was Asia and the Americas. Only time will tell which of the continents would best fit with what I was trying to achieve out of this world.

After just twenty minutes of traveling through London, I was partly surprised as I noticed that the carriage had started to slow down before coming to a full stop.

George looked quite calm about it and Jonathan didn't hold back his surprise at this unexpected pause, but before he could ask about this situation, it was his father that spoke.

"Since your last trip here in London was two months ago, I think it's proper for me to leave you do something to spend some time here and enjoy the city," The noble started to explain to his son, leading out of the carriage and in the street, right in front of…

A park?

"This is why I will let you enjoy some time here with the other boys while I conclude some minor commissions," He concluded with a small smile, getting happy at seeing the joy growing within Jonathan's face. "And don't forget to show Dio around."

"Thanks father!" The young man replied giddily with a quick nod before literally yanking me away from the street and through the gates of the park, ignoring the signs of discomfort I was showing at being man-handled without any warning.

Still, I managed to restrain myself from berating the eager display of excitement and decided to see where this was going as I couldn't exactly remember how this was supposed to go.

Was this a new event?

No.

The answer appeared as suddenly as the realization of this familiar scene did, my orange eyes swiftly spotting the familiar river and the small section of the park that was currently occupied by numerous teens of various classes.

They were all looking at at certain triangle-like area where a boxing match was slowly escalating, the two fighters punching each other without any hesitation, nor restrain in what looked to be quite the intense brawl unfolding before some jubilant spectators.

Truly a tragic display that brutal sports, still rudimentary and lacking any of the rules that made them at least 'non-deadly' in modern times, seemed to bring everyone together to enjoy some blood flying out of mouths and some teeth-falling.

While the original Dio would have been eager of making use of this event to antagonize JoJo even further than normal, I had no reason to take part in such a blatant display of aggressiveness, at least not until a proper reason that I could capitalize it with.

Thus, while the young Joestar decided to eagerly prepare to bash some heads, something I was fairly sure was going to happen fairly-frequently considering his already above-average frame, I decided to slowly slip out of that section of the park once the young man had entered the fray to enjoy a walk around to think about my next few steps.

This place was meant to be a safe haven for children of all ages and social statuses, so I was pretty much certain that there was no reason to worry for any unpleasant escalation from this moment I was spending alone and at peace.

I delved in a small part of the woods just away from the muddy path that interconnected the various areas to the main entrance, my interest piqued when I slowly came to realize how I could exploit this silence and lack of eyewitnesses to start practicing some more the Spin.

I took a little wood branch that had fallen off from some tree and started to carefully draw the golden rectangle which I was trying to use to obtain the Golden Spin.

I wasn't arrogant enough to consider achieving such a glorious power in so little time, nor I was so foolish to neglect the opportunity presented in the chance of training some more.

Hamon would have been also a good idea too, but considering how little I had given attention to the newly-acquired book about the Ripple and how I was uneasy from entering a meditative state outdoors and in 'uncharted territory'.

I merely accepted the idea of keeping Hamon-training outdoors until I had some grasp over basic breathing control.

I started my training session by controlling the spinning of the steel ball I still had with me, my efforts of improving my control over the spin first with both hands and then with a single one proved to be a tiring and long process.

One that was still coming along pretty excellently considering how handling the sphere with only a palm seemed to come to me fairly easier than I had initially expected it to be.

Soon I was moving to some bigger pebbles, instantly taking notice of some issues with the uneven texture of the little stones and why the spherical perfection was a must for the proper usage of the spin.

The first thing I realized from my early attempts was how the previously-circular manipulation of energy seemed to grow unstable as soon as it was started, forcing me to be incredibly mindful of not letting myself distracted while handling the unnatural spinning.

After just ten minutes of trying, I decided to concede myself away from testing this dangerous task as I moved on another detail of the Spin I had yet to verify.

While the 'main' purpose of the Spin is to explode, maim or cut anything in its origin's path, the energy created by it could be easily manipulated to create certain effects on the target of the object if the User is aware of the target's biology and nature.

In layman's terms, since I knew well enough about the composition of trees and their 'natural adjectives', I decided to try and see what I could do by using the Spin with some variation to the energy-manipulation.

The first thing I decided to test was trying to make some flowers blossom by its trunk, the absurd phenomenon possible thanks to the Spin and not by natural means, thus I decided to think about this very detail before throwing the steel ball and…

It impacted with a calm thud on the body of the tree, creating none of the partly-expected explosion and…

…

Nothing else happened once the sphere fell on the ground.

I approached the specimen, my hand carefully caressing the area where the steel ball had hit and I tried to find at least just an uneven spot in the trunk and…

I blinked, I looked closer at a curious sensation developing from the tree as I glanced by this part, meticulously trying to find the cause of this odd development.

I tensed up, a small smile forming as my orange eyes caught the cause of this strange sensation, a snort leaving my lips as I indeed succeeded in my first attempt.

Why couldn't I just see it from afar and had to come closer to notice it? It was a little immature flower.

Incredibly tiny, so much that I had to get so close to the trunk to see it.

A success, but one that also confirmed one of my growing concerns over a flaw of my current ability of using the Spin.

I was too detached from the nature of the Spin itself, the 'full potential', because of my worry of the sphere exploding in my hands.

My second attempt was a little more 'brazen' considering that I focused to spin the ball of steel some more before throwing it against the tree and… this time something more happened.

A blossomed daisy popping resolutely and suddenly from the bark of the tree, this time my smile widening at the better result.

I continued with my experiments for twenty minutes, maybe thirty, before deciding that it was time to return back to where JoJo was before getting in trouble about my unexpected disappearance.

Just as I returned back on the tracks, I found myself stopping at a strange loud voice giving a pained yell, the noise forcing me to snap my attention away from my steps back to where Jonathan was and… a little deeper in the park.

My guard mustered up and my left arm already grasping the steel ball softly lying within my jacket's pocket, I slowly walked to see what was happening and whom had throw that cry for help.

A robber? It was broad daylight, what were they expecting to do by attacking someone in a well-guarded park.

Still, it was fairly deep and away from the listening ears of any officer garrisoning the entrance of the place and maybe this wasn't… a robbery at all.

My suspicions were weak, but then I spotted a glaring clue of what I was going to face if I proceeded down that path to see who was being attacked.

There was an uneven line of blood trailing on the floor, away from the tracks and deep in the foliage.

I was forced me to turn and approach carefully as I felt I was getting closer to the criminal deed happening nearby.

I could have gotten out to find some of the guards and send them there, I could have avoided putting myself on the front of a surely-dangerous ordeal but… the blood was enough to drive me to intervene considering how deadly this predicament looked to be.

I wandered through the bushes with the intention of doing whatever I could to stop any aggressor, I was so certain of my bravery about the matter and… then I found myself paling at the scene I was introduced to.

The woman was alive, she was leaning on some tree while she continued to try begging her attacker to stop with his murderous intentions.

She had long black hair that reached down below her shoulders but just above her lower back, those were left untied and free. Her clothes were actually quite 'freer' than the conservative standard.

She was donning a frilly white dress, its skirt reaching just below her knees while her upper body was mostly covered… leaving only a particularly noticeable opening that gave a proper sight over her cleavage.

_A prostitute._

"P-Please- No! I-I don't want to die!"

But the dark-haired man seemed to mind little about the cries of mercy, his posture showing relaxation and eagerness to commit to the final act.

"Shhh-" He had his free index pressing by his lips as to emphasize his order, causing the scantly-dressed woman to whimper at his calm posture in such a dreadful display. "Can't have to deal with some unneeded distractions now. I just want to… get to know you better."

I gulped nervously at the sense of peace that was within the lulling voice of this killer, I felt panic rising from within my chest as I realized whom I was looking at.

He was younger, much younger than the murderer Dio met in Canon, but the monstrous knife he was holding in his right hand was so unique to not recognize it.

This… this was Jack the Ripper.

Too early. My incredulous mind was screeching at the early entry of this dangerous assassin, his murdering spree had to begin in a few years from now and…

What if he had began earlier?

Jack the Ripper became known only when he went on with killing numerous women in a short span of time, but what if he had 'experimented' before going for the 'grander deed'?

A grimace was on on my face but I didn't hesitate any longer since learning of this development.

Pulling the steel sphere out of my pocket, I was already creating the Spin with it and, the moment I finally got it charged and ready, prepared to launch an explosive greeting at the young murderer.

Much to my instant horror, my aim proved to be incredibly unbalanced considering my now-visible trembling going through my arms and, while I had planned to hit him squarely on his back… but the flying projectile exploded by his right tight.

The sudden attack caught him off-guard, enough to force him to drop his knife to the floor and turn around to glance at me, his aggressor.

He looked more surprised, a sense of wonder hiding in those annoyed eyes as he silently studied me from afar.

The woman's eyes were still wide-open as she continued to press her hands onto her wounded upper-leg, her attention too directed at me.

"H-How peculiar," He stated with a fascinated tone, taking a slow step towards me while I continued to look at his younger appearance. "A child… with some pretty tricks."

His hair and beard were shorter, his overall frame much reduced compared to his older, more experienced self. This was the making of a legendary killer…_ one that was slowly approaching me._

The ball of steel was far too hidden in the foliage for me to recover and trying to move to get some pebbles would spring him to rush me.

This is bad, my aim shouldn't have failed me this terrible and… now I was going to pay for my little moment of weakness.

He was moving slowly, as if trying to impose some control over this unexpected development, trying to enforce his dominance over my 'apparently weaker' frame.

Despite his wound, now bleeding profusely even with a hand pressing on the injury, Jack looked quite calm and collected, so sure and certain of victory even before this painful hindrance.

I had to think quickly, I had to elaborate something that could work against the approaching killer before-

…Approaching.

My memory was quick to bring up the scene I needed, I had to just rehearse it in a proper manner to fit this eventuality without sounding too cocky nor too afraid.

While I was unsure if this act would have worked on a normal person, I was keen to notice the little tension enveloping the pained form of the Ripper, the man was trying his best from not making anyone notice… but I did.

I assumed the posture, a little lessened as to reduce the oddity it had on a normal spectator.

"Oh? You are approaching me?" I asked with a certain sense of factual determination, holding myself from over-emphasizing with some of the words. "Instead of running away, you're coming right to me?"

He paused, his eyes widening just a fraction as if not expecting this sudden bout of bravado.

"What are you talking about, child?" He asked with a curious tone, almost in childish wonder.

I smirked. "Even though the guards have been alerted, even though you are bleeding profusely and despite the fact I could easily maim you more, you decide to approach me instead of surviving this quite difficult ordeal?"

There was a pause, his silence confirming that the little act had got him to ponder over the matter.

I was slightly unnerved by the quiet, but considering how difficult to enforce such a psychological assault, I steeled my resolve over the matter as he sighed.

"What if I'm fast enough to finish her and kill you?" He took a step closer, trying to cause a squirm out of me. "What if you are bluffing about the police-"

"Then we will see if fate is truly that merciful to you, _Jack_," I interjected with a smirk, enjoying the little panic at the mentioning of his name. "But I don't think the Heavens will be kind to you once you fail. For I think you have forfeited any chance of salvation the moment you succumbed to your own demons."

_I took a step closer_.

"Please, do try and shatter my theory; rush to me and show me your brilliant speed!" I exclaimed louder, forcing him to tense up in visible fear at the certainty held within my tone.

He stood still, so did I with my own amused expression and relaxed posture.

"Interesting," He muttered with some awe in his tone. "You… You are odd-"

He swiftly moved out of the foliage to the side, running away with his impressive speed while concluding his comment.

"_**Odder than me~!**_"

I stared in surprise at the retreated figure, caught off-guard by this last comment as I felt shaken to the core by this correlation.

…

N-no, I shouldn't be wasting too much time musing over some rabid fool's half-thought, my orange eyes returning to the now calming down young woman while she continued to try and keep a hold of her wounded leg.

I slowly approached her, causing her to tense a little at me but she seemed less threatened by my presence, especially since I had been the one that got her assaulter to leave her before he could hurt her more.

Once I was close enough, I crouched in front of her and gave a closer look to her injury.

The cut was enough to cause her to lose this much blood, but not enough to sound threatening… if I considered the basis of modern medicine.

I didn't have any water with me to clean the wound, nor I had any first aid kit to use to bandage it up right where we were.

Instead of keeping still and just look at the bloody thing, I went to pull my light-green handkerchief from my pocket and started to carefully clean it a little.

I didn't have any medical alcohol to properly clean it, the risk of infections were high considering how long it would take to get hold of a proper doctor. _And that was ignoring the lack of free medical care in this age._

Gritting my teeth, my brain felt burning as I felt that I had to adopt a simpler approach to the matter. I recovered the steel ball before returning to the suffering young woman and spoke.

"Can you walk with your other leg?"

She seemed surprised at my question, possibly because the bravado was now gone and there was just serious concern over the blatant wound.

If I had grown in this period of time, I would have probably called a guard and let him sort out this situation, but knowing of the possible outcomes from this untreated wound, I couldn't help but decide to give her some aid.

She gave a nervous nod, slowly understanding that we had to move out of here and she cautiously accepted my hands in hers as I pulled her up.

I was quite slim, I have stressed this fairly enough, and thus the effort was… quite straining on my own body, the adrenaline giving me plenty of energy to keep up with the activity.

Once I had her standing and one of her arms on my shoulders, I started to carefully walk the two of us out of that deep section of the park and back to the muddy path where I came from.

From there, I began making the way right to the nearby area of the park that was close to the Thames.

I needed to try something drastic, even though I felt fairly winded by what had happened today, I needed to strive for a miraculous attempt.

I started to storm my brain with thoughts how Gyro Zeppeli did manage to use the spin with water, having just a theory of what I was actually going to do to help the woman in distress.

Once we were near the river, I had her sit by the ground while telling her to wait as I went to take some waters to clean the wound, a swift nod confirming that she wasn't too distracted from the matter and giving me the time to rush near the body of water and prepare to try and accomplish a divine intervention.

Placing the used handkerchief to the side, I knelt before near the putrid water, perfectly aware that this wasn't going to do anything to clean injuries, possibly the contrary from what I knew from History lessons.

But my plan wasn't to use the water itself, but something I had to 'create' out of it.

Rolling up my sleeves, I dived my hands onto the cold liquid and carefully started the correct rotation to enact the Spin on some particles of water.

The process was painstakingly slow as the water was muddy enough to hinder my capacity to see if I could already pull the hoped bubble of transparent liquid or not.

Ultimately I started to lift my hands out of the river and I had in fact managed to get a rather unstable water-filled bubble in my palm, the spin still in motion as to keep it from collapsing.

And now onto the very grand scheme I had in mind.

Since the Spin can alter the composition of an object/being's self if the User is aware of their composition, then the User should also be capable of altering the epicenter of the Spin with proper concentration.

This first step was mostly done, the sufficient result offering me the opportunity to pass on to the second step, the one that could be considered the 'real miracle'.

I breathed calmly, my mind trying its best to impose two major rules upon the bubble of water.

The first rule was that the bubble itself had to be modified as to be only water, my brain repeating fiercely the 'H2O' composition forcing the spinning energy to adapt as the muddy bubble slowly turned transparent and lacking of any other impurities.

I felt my breathing getting a little labored, my concentration faltering as the spin energy was getting even more unstable the more I let it continue.

_D-Dammit!_

The second step was mostly done, I just needed to make the last change before concluding this draining experience.

The highest zenith of absurdity, the one thing that made the Spin unique compared to Hamon itself.

I took a large breath intake and… began changing the pure water into a variant with its composition.

**CH3 - CH2 - OH**

The bubble tensed, close to burst open, but holding just enough for the final alteration to happen and for me to move the floating bubble just above the handkerchief.

I could smell the result already, my nose scrunching at the familiar odor of Ethanol.

Once the process was over I let the spinning die down, moving away from the bubble just in time to see it fall swiftly on the piece of cloth while also staining the ground nearby.

Quickly pulling up the little wet thing, I was glad to see that none of the dirt had managed to attach itself to it, leaving a mostly stainless handkerchief imbued with medical alcohol.

I slowly made my way back to where the woman was sitting, she looked surprised to see me returning after so long but her attention was suddenly taken by the pungent smell coming from the handkerchief.

Before she could ask anything I was already close to her wounded leg. "This might sting a little," I warned before cautiously pressing the cloth onto her injury.

Her open mouth let out a yelp while she whimpered at the sudden bout of pain coming from the contact, but she surprisingly managed to not scream at this.

I was done moments later as I gave her a calming nod. "The wound is now properly cleaned."

There was a pause at first, then she nodded again. "I… Thank you?"

I blinked at her meek reaction, but returned the nod nonetheless.

"You are welcome." I commented back, giving her a curious look. "By the way what is your name?"

I mean, courtesy is still a thing…

I think even for prostitutes.

She looked a little surprised about the matter but blurted out something.

"H-Hannah."

Before I could say anything more about this, I felt some people approaching the area where we were, forcing me to look around and see…

George Joestar, Jojo and two police officer making their way towards us.

Oh right, I did forget that I didn't tell anyone about where I had gone.

JoJo looked surprised, while his father looked confused but particularly suspicious of the young woman in front of me.

_I have a feeling that I, Dio, might have created some immense mess._

**And while our young protagonist deal with the situation at hand by assuring the innocence of young Hannah while also explaining what had happened after entering the park, a certain shadow with malicious looked at the scene with a certain wonder.**

_**For his interest has been peaked by the curious blond and his peculiar ability. His thirst renewed, his target now set in his mind.**_

_**-To be continued…**_

* * *

**AN**

**Dio-sama's mercy is beyond heavenly, but so is his vengeful mood when irked!**

**So many questions, so many complications born from a little act of kindness… and improvement.**

**Not only Dio helped a woman in need, but also slowly realized more of the early potential of the Spin, the chances born from manipulating such a grand power and… Hamon.**

**Hamon will be essential, Hamon will be the key to the Heavens.**

**But alas, no more hints! The key has been revealed, but the ritual is intricate but simpler than the original one that granted the ****｢****The World Over Heaven****｣ ****and ****｢****Made in Heaven****｣****. Stay tuned to know some more!**

_**LASTLY! I REJECT MY HUMANITY… TO TRANSCEND MY LIMITS AS A WRITER! WRYYYYYY!**_

**P a treon . com (slash) socialistbukharin**

**k o-fi . com (slash) justbukharin**

**REVIEW Q&A!**

**Jacquelinemueller53****: Yes, that is a SBR reference.**

**DG2****: I think the logic behind the Mary Sue (or in the male case the 'Gary Stu') is that the MC is given powers with minimum efforts, that everyone is easily befriended and that they don't need to put too much effort in gaining what they want. Considering that Dio's journey is far from easy and the only thing that is going to get him to avoid some nasty encounters is some heavy mind-plays/trickeries, I wouldn't say that he is getting the easy route.**

**The Lazy Dragon****: It was the Jack da Rippah! (and no, he's not the scantly-dressed loli that calls everyone she cares for as 'Mommy')**

**UnoriginalNick****: Thanks for the support!**


	5. Giovinezza (5)

**DISCLAIMER**

**The following is a fan-based**

**FICTION**

**All Parts of the JJBA are all owned by Hirohiko Araki. **

**Please Support the Official Release!**

* * *

**Capitolo Primo: Giovinezza (5)**

* * *

A full day had passed since that interesting day that saw me facing one of the greatest assassins in modern history.

Jack the Ripper was a figure that was shrouded in mystery, negativity and outright uncertainty as his deeds were so brutal, so swift and… so difficult to decipher.

He was never caught, even the full deployment of Scotland Yard got little results from the investigations born from the assassinations of the various prostitutes he would eventually hunt down even in this timeline.

Araki had described him pretty much how many other authors would depict such a confusing murderer, an aimless killer that didn't seem to have a real reason to go for his murder spree.

He was a pitiful tool of malicious machinations.

The result of some abuse that broke the human mind he had been bestowed since his natural birth that was quick to be seduced by the alluring chances of becoming_ more_ by surrendering his flawed humanity to a Dio recovering from his first battle as a vampire against Jonathan.

I wasn't certainly planning to recruit someone like him, knowing enough about his unpleasant specialization to be aware of the possible drawbacks of gaining his trust.

He was too much of a chaotic presence, not enough subdued to become a pawn for me to manipulate to his complete exploitation.

Especially now that he was younger and surely more emotional with this new passion of his, the modus operandi I was documented about from the various documentaries I had seen detailing the fine clues left around by his deeds failing to represent the younger version I had encountered.

He was dangerous, even more now that he was so brash and possibly less-inclined to take a calm approach over the oddity I was to him.

"Odder than me~!"

His words kept me awake that very night, a few hours after that meeting, and his fascinated eyes would present themselves as the sole physical manifestation of the uneasy words I had so unfortunately burned in my brain.

I wasn't worried of making another encounter anytime soon, at least that would be the case until I kept close to the Joestar Manor.

He knew of my face but even though he managed to snatch some more information over my whereabouts and my full name, trying to fell me while I was still enjoying the social protection of George Joestar would have seen him getting his own demise just after my kill.

Assassinating prostitutes was a thing, killing the ward of a noble family?

Any attempt at my life would see his own getting hunted down by both Scotland Yard AND the Royal Army considering the heinous ground he would be standing by committing such a noticeable crime.

I was also careful to twist the tale of what happened at the park before JoJo's father and the police officers taking notes for their reports, making sure to add in that he had 'mentioned' his name while preparing to murder the young woman I was just helping 'with some water'.

Hannah behaved shyly when the officers started to question her too, but surprisingly enough she ended up confirming the version I had decided to use to describe the ordeal.

It had been a very abridged story which lacked any of the details that were best to be left out from anyone but just myself… and the other witnesses of the predicament itself.

I was surprised when the brunette had refused to give out any of the bizarre abilities I had used before her eyes, seemingly adamant in getting herself out of this situation the quickest possible while also… giving some brief praises about my intervention.

I was slightly initially stomped by her sweet tone as she continued with her use of some positive adjectives to tell how 'kind and gentle' I had been while making sure that she was well-cared by with the injury she had now cleaned, yet I was slowly realized why she seemed this much giddy about giving such a depiction of the narration.

I was fairly sure that it was actually something related to the chivalrous idea of a 'knight in shining armor coming to save any maiden in distress' that JoJo was so keen to naively consider the true embodiment of being a gentleman, but her concept was twisted and adapted in a more romantic and _desperate_ manner because of her current state of life.

She was a young prostitute of London that lived in the late years of the Victorian Age, her chances of having a family, of having her own romantic pursues away from the painful life she is forced to deal as of now.

It was a pitiful display of what Great Britain once was and I couldn't help but feel sorry for her current lifestyle.

But 'feeling sorry' wasn't enough to get me to try and face what was meant to be a losing fight against the sturdy concepts of this society.

Offering her help after this? It would be superfluous if not dangerous for my current standing.

George was chivalrous but he wouldn't accept even thinking of hiring the young woman as a maid, the scandal that would explode by such endeavor an easy threat to the Joestars' reputation as good nobles.

It would end up badly for me if I decided to press on the subject, thus I merely let things resolve in the dreadfulness of neutrality, only to wonder if I could have actually done something more for the now safe lady.

I didn't have the position, the role, to command such a merciful attempt and I didn't even try to put any effort in that senseless battle.

Instead, my mind drifted back to Jack as the carriage started to make his way back home that very day, with Hannah having gone on her own way back to wherever she had been living, maybe to recover and skip any unpleasant session after this ordeal.

It didn't matter to me in that very instance, my brain bringing up the main issue of that encounter I had with Jack… or rather the lucky development that saw me victorious.

Citing Dio's own quotes from the future had been a hazardous gamble that could have easily failed if the enemy himself could have spotted the nervousness hiding behind my face.

The Spin had failed me as, in a moment of need, I had been overtaken by the horrible hold of fear and despair, ruining my practical chances of winning any eventual fights from that very point.

Once we were back to the manor, I found myself graced with some unexpected mercy in the form of a brief speech George had decided to give me right as we vaulted the main gates.

"Dio, tomorrow I think you will be better skipping the usual tutoring lessons," The nobleman said with a careful tone. "From my understanding, it would be best for you to get some proper rest after that close encounter with such a dreadful mongrel."

I blinked, surprise painted in my orange-colored eyes. "I- It's not an issue for me to-"

"I insist," The old Joestar interjected firmly. "That was an ordeal someone of your age shouldn't have been neither a witness, nor an active part of."

In the end I merely accepted the orders, finding them to be just what I wanted to have with what I had planned to do in the next few days.

Jonathan was irritated at first, huffing at the fact that I was allowed to skip the homework, but stopping himself from actually protesting the legitimate offer as he was aware that what had happened had gone well-beyond the chances of normality.

It put him in a surprisingly weird mood as, once we were permitted to return our rooms, he asked if he could come inside to talk about some topics about the day.

During the narration I had provided to the police officers, the young Joestar had been fairly quiet and merely glancing between me and Hannah while the young woman was waiting for her turn for the questioning.

His interrogation proceeded in a mix of pestering and childish curiosity taking over the topics brought up with the questions he would blurt out carefully and patiently.

"B-But why would you want to skip some simple boxing?"

"Other than the fact that I'm fairly slim and easy to pick up?" I asked sarcastically, but sadly the undertone failed to register in the young man's mind, causing me to sigh. "I guess I just didn't find myself interested in trying to punch people around for no major purpose."

"It's not just 'punching people'," He huffed with an annoyed voice. "It's about proving that you can actually fight to defend those that you care about, family."

_Something I don't have. I don't have neither friends nor a family to believe myself into._

_I didn't have any precious people… __**except the elevated figure of ambition raised from the unfortunate passing of a kind mother treated unfairly by this hideous era.**_

Dario Brando might have been the direct cause of the death of Dio's mother, but it was a large number of things that caused the poor woman to ultimately find her demise in such a saddening manner.

It was only me now, even as a mere self-insert that didn't know anything about the truest essence of Dio's plight.

_**I was alone in this unknown loneliness.**_

"I suppose that some might see it as a mean to exert determination in those you love, but I find it just to be a mere punching session," I replied with a flat tone, unwilling to expose the mind of someone still so young to the depravity that was my cynical perspective of the world as a whole. "Still, I think I will still pass trying it."

He shrugged. "You are free to be interested or not to activities," JoJo admitted quietly. "But are you sure you don't wish to at least train in case… that situation happen again?"

Hmm? Was that concern I was feeling coming from his throat? Was that worry dripping from his words while he contemplated the repetition of such an absurd circumstance.

I don't think Jack will bother hanging around the park now that the police had reason to patrol the place even during the day, but the boy's advice wasn't one that lacked any true foundation.

If I hadn't managed to find a mean to gain Hamon training, my Plan B would have surely been training up my body enough to gain full confidence and control of a stronger self of me.

But since I had the Ripple now to study and expand from, I decided to pass for now about developing my muscles.

Maybe it will be integrated with my current training regime as I knew that stronger lungs could benefit me in the long-run if I planned to make continuous use of Hamon in any future fights.

It was a strong possibility, thus I merely ignored the offer of training from the possibly _less-_experienced young man and found myself dealing with another topic, this time the subject itself getting a light blush out of me while the boy asked it so innocently and blissfully unaware.

"A-Also, can you tell me more about that lady, Ms. Hannah?" He inquired with a little stutter, confused himself over some of the things he had seen with the young woman. "Dad said that I shouldn't be asking but… why was she wearing something so _revealing_?"

I almost snorted at the query, feeling some amusement rising from such a pure and non-corrupted perception of thing.

I could say so much about the matter, possibly getting Jonathan overly-teased over what sex was and why it was connected to the young woman, but I merely settled to something far tamer and easy to explain without having to deal with a furious George over the 'corruption' of his first-born.

"Hannah's work entail something about intimacy and… quite the sinful kind of stuff," I carefully began to explain, gaining his rapt attention. "Nothing truly horrible- but it's considered by society as something fairly deplorable to commit with her own body. Said work requires her to wear revealing clothes-"

"But what kind of job would need women dressed like that? Is it something like a maid or-"

"No," I interjected flatly before the mountain of questions could fall on me. He was curious over an incredibly delicate topic and I couldn't certainly let him get any wrong idea by suggesting anything easy to misunderstand over the predicament. "Her work can be considered quite the detestable one for a woman, the practice committed with it being fairly unpleasant and sometime unfair."

"But if it's that bad, then why couldn't Dad just offer her work as a servant-"

"Because your father would lose face by doing such thing," I interrupted again while forcing a calm voice out, feeling fairly irritating by the constant interventions. "Her work would sully the reputation of the family if she was ever hired to work as a maid, your standing with other children would crumble dramatically."

"Why?" He finally asked once I was done with this answer. "Why would father just ignore a woman in need? Why would he-"

"JoJo, do you know how many other women are working the same job as Hannah?" I asked curtly, eyeing him with a serious glint, causing him to shuffle a little nervously at my stare.

"There are numerous women doing this kind of stuff, humiliating tasks for the sake of surviving in a city that is praised to be the beacon of prosperity and modernity," I continued as I accepted the silence as a 'no'. "The world is filled with good and nice things, but also some unpleasant truths that you best not learn about."

He blinked, confused about the allusion I had thrown at him without any connection to the subject.

"B-But you are as young as I am, why wouldn't I be wanting to know about-"

"You are given a choice here, JoJo," I jumped in with a tight tone. "You are allowed to decide to keep your childhood happy for a few more years or be cursed already with a glimpse of what adults are forced to look at every day."

I glanced away from him, feeling oddly unnerved by this line of thought.

"I wasn't given one, I was never offered the chance of having a pleasant life before being taken in as a ward of the Joestar Family," I concluded with a sigh. "So when you ask me why I know more things about you, you should first think about how can I, a mere poor orphan, have learned about what is going on in the world so early in my life."

There was silence, I accepted it without pursuing any other topics and… JoJo decided to conclude the interrogation there, walking by the half-open door and stopping a step before leaving the room.

"I'm sorry for… being this-"

"I know you mean well," I interjected blankly. "But I would like to be left alone for today. I just… need some time to think."

He merely nodded, the saddened expression that highlighted his perspective over the matter, about the fact that he had been responsible for this sour conclusion, gave me quite the unpleasant sensation to the core.

It was annoying, irritating even and… I realized almost too quickly what it was all about.

The anger, the bubbling fury that stemmed from such behavior…

Was this what Dio thought every single time Jonathan would try to emphasize with him?

The sense of being 'understood' by someone that barely left his family manor, perfectly unaware of the troubled life many others were suffering through each day of their lives.

I closed my eyes just for a moment as the door closed, letting my breathing reign as the sole sound of the room and… I blinked awake and away from that inner turmoil.

Accepting this backtracking? Now that things were picking up a dreadful pace?

Despite my irritation at the discussion that had just finished so bitterly, I managed to focus my attention right onto the tome I had managed to smuggle inside my room.

The book that Muddiburi had given to me, a mean to begin my official training as a Hamon User.

I lied on my bed, eyelids half-dropped as I read silently and carefully all the words and the descriptions given by such an enlightening text.

It was so well-detailed, a practical diary that explained in quite the accurate way how Hamon originates within the lungs, how the energy was born from a mix of emotions, willpower and pure physical submission to the user's mind.

It was an intriguing read for sure, one that I proceeded to continue even later that night after dinner.

The event itself was fairly forgettable as silence had domineered while I enjoyed some delicious steak, my attention being barely taken by the way Jonathan had managed to avoid making any major conversation during this time, his eyes fixed on his plate as he slowly and regally ate his share of food.

It was an odd sight for sure, quite the curious development that confirmed the possibility that my words did leave some doubts within the 'dreamy boy' and his idea of proper life.

Something that would surely give me issues in the distant future, but for that moment I merely enjoyed the food given to me before resuming my entertaining study of the Ripple, my mind already preparing for the following day.

Hamon was at reach, the concept of the proper breathing degree now well-ingrained in my mind and…

_**Maybe it was high time for I, Dio, to go for a solo swim in that lovely, but unfairly cold river.**_

-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-

With both father and son busying themselves with the usual hours of tutoring by the grand study room in the second floor, I was perfectly free from proceeding with my plans for the day.

Leaving the mansion by its main doors, I started to make my way right towards the section of the river nearby that JoJo had shown me a few days earlier, my giddiness almost bubbling up onto my expression as I found no obstacle to such commitment.

I knew that Danny was sleeping at these hours of the day, providing me with just enough time to wander right where I needed to be to begin the training session I had planned to do here… in this body of water.

I had brought my full-body swimsuit, quickly switching to it after I had given the usual thorough look around the general area as to see if I could catch anyone preparing to spy on me.

The unpleasant thought of someone peeping on me, maybe for some malicious intents other than merely spying, was more than enough to drill this habit right onto my day ever since I started to consider the chances of having an intruder in the swimming sessions I had with JoJo.

After making sure the coast was clear, I decided to hide my normal clothes by some bushes, away from any visitors' sight and reach.

Bullies were still a thing around the distinct region and I was fairly unwilling to be subjected to some mockery of annoyance.

I needed some time alone to achieve such an important and essential training session, enough to gain some control over the most important bit of Hamon.

While the Spin was easy to achieve and use in its base form, the Ripple was much more versatile in close-fighting and offered to its users the chance of expand their vitality and lifespan if practiced continuously and religiously.

It was an ability that was best compared to the manipulation of energy close to the one coming from the sun, the prime enemy of supernatural monsters like vampires, zombies and Pillar Men.

Given proper creativity, time and effort, such a power can also grant its user the opportunity to conceive skills that could easily defy the normal limits of mere humans.

And this is why, instead of whining around once again at how horribly cold the water was, I let myself float up in that quiet river, keeping my body close to the land in fear of getting dragged along the flow.

It was a strange experience, far different from the usual relaxing floating I used to do while I was younger.

There was purpose in that peace, there was a reason in that simple activity.

My breathing was soft, quiet and somehow well-timed despite my lack of major attention to it, my mind channeling a sense of sound deprivation, the lack of sight and… the true nature of peace.

The deafening silent persisted for a couple of quiet minutes, my mind drowning in that sweet moment of nothingness.

Soon, I found myself growing attuned with my body, my mind connecting in a way deeper than before to it as I started to get prepared for the next step.

"_Kooooohhh_."

It was a simple noise, yet the meaning behind it was more than just a single release.

I was slowly releasing the breath I had gained from the previous intake of air, I was letting out my emotional drive and… I was fueling my willpower in this word.

I thought of my ambitions, of my dreams, of those that I had left behind, of those that Dio had lost, of those that were going to be lost without my intervention and…

_**My mind burned at the thought of a young woman, crouching in front of me as to meet my eyes with her kind orbs. She was donning such a kind smile, such a tired smile and… an amount of love that defied anything I was aware of.**_

"_**My child, my little conqueror," She said with a happiness in her tone. "Please… become something great. Someone that will never fear the darkness, that will never be bent by death itself."**_

_**She paused, her eyes shining as some tears had began forming at the edge of those. **_

"_**Go forth and… conquer the world if you can."**_

My mind broke free from that memory, my eyes already crying as I felt my entire core burning so fiercely and rightfully.

It was like I was coaxed in fire, but instead of pain, I was met with a clarity of self, of mind and body.

It wasn't a visible effect at first, I felt this very warmth warmth coming right from my chest as it fluidly spread all thorough my limbs and…

_**The water started to cackle, to bubble, as something similar to electric sparks rose from my skin and coating the rest of my body.**_

Soon some fishes started to happily jump out of the water before diving back to it, like some dolphins and… I could feel their energy synching with mine.

I blinked, my orange eyes going wide open as I realized that this reaction wasn't meant to be the correct one.

It was too strong- even Zeppeli had affirmed that Jonathan's own potential was considered a rarity for sure and… it had been just a tree branch blossoming small flowers all over it.

This… this couldn't just be it.

That means that Dio had the potential to surpass Jonathan if he had studied Hamon instead of becoming a vampire, he would have achieved victory in Phantom Blood instead off _reject his humanity!_

My breathing grew irregular, disrupting the ripple's effect that I was creating unconsciously.

The water grew calm to how it was before I started this attempt, yet my body continued to feel pleasantly warmth.

It felt like I had unlocked something deep within me, as if I had tapped into the most secret but fiercest part of me.

I struggled a little to move away from the river, my body oddly drained but not even winded by the experience and it was just as I reached the shore that I heard something unexpected.

The noise of a twig or a branch cracking under pressure and something like-

"N-No!"

My sight turned swiftly to track down the origin of the distinctly feminine voice, my orange eyes noticing right on time as a certain blonde-haired girl falling down from a broken tree branch and right into some bushes.

Oh. That is-

That would explain a lot, I guess.

It wasn't anyone malicious that had actively spied upon the swimming sessions, but someone that had decided to keep herself away from dealing with two boys at once.

Erina Pendleton was still a shy girl with a sweet personality and a far more reserved attitude compared to Jonathan.

Since JoJo had helped her face some bullies by episode 1 of the series, I suppose she had been trying to find the proper moment to approach him and apologize for the quick retreat she had gone with instead of thanking him for his help.

My presence, which brought up the amount of males up to twice as she was initially planned, the blonde had to have waited for the right time where I wasn't around to 'stop her from thanking the Joestar'.

I carefully approached where the girl had fallen but my pace increased as I heard her groan and yelp in minor pain while she was holding her left leg close.

Face scrunched in suffering and her eyes half-closed at the sharp sensation coming from her lower limb, Erina seemed to just tense as I finally got close enough to her to crouch down and see what was wrong with her.

The fall had to have left some damage, I was certain of it considering the height she had fallen from, but I still decided to ease her worries with some assurances.

"I'm not angry," I said with a calm voice. "Did you get hurt?"

She didn't answer at first, either embarrassed at the fact she had been caught doing something as indecent as peeping on me or that a young man was talking to her.

"I understand you are confused and scared, but I wish to help you and I can't do anything if you keep quiet."

My voice seemed to bring her to relax a little, her cyan eyes still wide open but seemingly regaining some focus on the predicament she was currently facing.

"T-The leg," She spoke curtly and nervously. "I-It hurts."

I nodded, carefully reaching for the limb she had been grasping at until now. "What's your name?"

My question surprised her but, differently from Hannah, she didn't seem eager to answer that question.

It would make things complicated if I have to address her differently than what her name was, especially since I was aware of it _when technically I shouldn't be._

I sighed and nodded tiredly. "My name is Dio."

There was a pause, a quiet and slightly-annoying one at that, but finally the girl spoke again.

"E-Erina. Erina Pendleton."

"Erina is a nice name," I commented curtly as I slowly started to lift her skirt a little, just enough to see the extent of the injury and I felt relief entering my chest as I noticed that it was just some little cuts over exposed skin. Shallow cuts that were surely created by something thorny right where she had fallen by. "Can you tell me what is your favorite color?"

Erina blinked, once again surprised by the sudden query, but this time her answer didn't need any push and, while she was distracted with this, I started to use a little piece of her skirt that had been cut up by the fall to clean her little wound.

"I- I think it's… blue?"

"Is that a question or an answer, Erina?" I politely pressed on, her eyes narrowing at the pressure.

"I-It's blue," The girl replied with more sureness, drawing a little smile out of me.

"That's good to know," I hummed positively, my orange eyes still staring at the issue instead of taking serious part to the simple conversation I had began as a distraction. "Mine's Burgundy."

The blonde blinked. "T-That's not a color."

"It's a dark shade of red. It is also known as a Bordeaux," I replied back. "It represented royalty and other kind of noble houses in France."

Her eyes showed some understanding behind the explanation, but then she hummed.

"But we are in England."

"Indeed, we are and..." I nodded pulling my hands away from her now-clean leg, I decided to leave the wet cloth onto there, latching it carefully and praying it wouldn't fall as she retreated back home. "Your injury has been cleaned properly."

Surprise surged in her face. "W-What?"

Her attention snapped right at her leg and she moved her skirt to reveal the now bloodless spot.

"Oh- You- You tricked me?"

"Only to avoid to give you some more pain," I admitted with a sigh. "When people focus on a wound, they tend to get more sensible when someone is tending to it."

"But- You- I-" She paused just for a moment, then the blonde huffed. "You are a mean man."

"I suppose not all the boys can be 'gentlemen' like Jonathan," I shot back, getting an embarrassed blush resurfacing on her face.

"T-That's not why-"

"You want to apologize to him for running away from him instead of thanking him when he helped you with the bullies," I interjected with a small smile. "He told me that he had been trying to find you since that day. He thought he scared you by being too much direct-"

"He- He didn't," Erina blurted nervously, pausing just a moment to realize what she had just said and… then the girl continued. "So he thinks that… he did something bad to me?"

"It's possible, but I guess I can tell him that this isn't the case and-"

"N-No, I- I have to tell him myself," She pressed on before I could finish my sentence, her lovely cyan orbs steeling up in determination. "He was kind to me and… I should be the one to personally apologize."

I blinked at that odd instance of stubborn crushing. I knew how things were supposed to go from there, but I was certainly unsure how to pick around without ruining the pairing.

And ruining the JoJoxErina ship was bad. Like really bad, something not even the worst of villains would try to break apart.

I ultimately gave her a nod. "I suppose that is a legitimate request… and I might have a solution to help you out."

She tensed up a little, but seemed still interested on the matter as her eyes lit up at the chance of having an opportunity to speak with her 'savior'.

I started to explain to her my little plan, getting some uneasy comments over the general line of execution but… I knew exactly how to have her visit the manor without JoJo suspecting anything strange about it.

It was genial, it was optimal and… it lessened the chances of Jonathan becoming an enemy in the near future.

With him focusing in developing a bond with Erina much earlier, given some time and effort, he wouldn't have a reason to interest himself on the Stone Mask, he wouldn't try to study Archeology and try to settle for something a little more quick to allow him some income to stay here and… he wouldn't have a reason to pester me around with unneeded questions.

With the young girl making her slow return back home alone but with resolution over the chances of meeting the young Joestar, I proceeded to make my own return to the mansion after changing my clothes, my mind burning actively in the effort of combining two successes in a single sentence.

**I, Dio, managed to unlock my rightful potential… and now I shall make sure to unite two future loverbirds early on in the series. For those two were…**_** a match Made in Heaven!**_

_**-To be continued…**_

* * *

**AN**

**For those that remember or have seen recently Part 1, I don't think I need to explain that merely unlocking the Hamon potential doesn't equate to being able to make the absurd feat Jonathan was known for.**

**Dio has higher chances as his fortitude is born from tragedies far greater than JoJo's, his ambitions tempering the power to reach a new height and…**

**The idea of having Dio be a Hamon prodigy is based on the fact that his Vampiric head shouldn't have been able to assimilate with Jonathan's body… yet it did partially. And that tells a lot about missed chances.**

**Lastly, please read this in Dio's voice: **_**Have you ever kissed JoJo before? Guess not… that means your first kiss will be with him! For it is Dio's newest ambition, WRYYY!**_

**Also… little surprise for FF fans:**

* * *

**Omake 1: Where the Spin goes Bizarre**

**Original Idea from: Legendar-NOT (Space Battles)**

* * *

It was late at night, just an hour after dinner, and I was enjoying some rest by lying over my bed.

I was feeling particularly tired after a day spent training the Hamon by the local river, my entire body feeling sore and in need of some sleep after this long day.

A yawn left my lips, but my mind was far from tired enough to contemplate some early slumber, my brain still active after such the lack of interesting things to do.

Humming quietly, I glanced by my bedside and noticed with a certain interest the steel balls I've started to accumulate in the last few days, the need of having those perfectly-shaped spheres for the usage of the Spin giving me a certain addiction.

It wasn't anything bad to my body, my health or even something that was dangerous in general.

I took one in my fingers and, without thinking too much about it, started to apply some spinning to it.

The familiar energy started to flow, the curious hue coming from it lulling me in a state of peace and relax.

I yawned again, my eyes moving away from the spinning ball and up to the ceiling as I started to slowly lose myself in my thoughts.

I started to think about earlier that morning, right by the beginning of breakfast.

We were all enjoying our own peace and quiet, once or twice the patriarch of the Joestar family giving some words about his current state of things, maybe while also putting pressure on his son about my achievements and urging some more efforts from him, to which Jonathan couldn't help but just nod at.

I was carefully drinking some tea, thinking about how I should have trained for the planned Hamon session, when I glanced right at George and… noticed the curious shape of his mustache.

I had realized since the first day that the man was used to drop some milk in his tea, maybe as a mean to wake up quicker instead of having more than one cup considering how sweet and warm the milk was.

This morning, much to my immense surprise and hidden amusement, after just taking a long sip from his cup, the nobleman had been blissfully unaware that the milk that had remained on top of the liquid had somehow managed to reach his mustache, tainting it with white and… making is fluffy at the same time.

JoJo realized what was going on with his father moments later but, differently than how I reacted to it, he didn't spare himself from chuckling at the scene much to the confused look coming from the older Joestar.

George looked immensely confused about it all and remained so until one of the older butlers decided to point out the issue in question while also providing him some mirror to look at himself.

The man blinked twice before snorting himself and shaking his head in minor mirthfulness.

"I just look like Santa."

"T-That's what I was thinking about, father," Jonathan added with an entertained tone before being forced to lift his hands to his mouth to keep himself from laughing at the scene, much to his father's growing embarrassment.

In that very moment, the old man turned his attention to me and blinked.

"What do you think of this, Dio?"

The query was partly-expected and I was ready to say that he did indeed look like Santa but just as I opened my lips to say this… I found my brain giving me another picture of someone that now seemed fairly similar in terms of beards.

_**Nigerundayo!**_

N-No, I refuse to accept that there can be this stark resemblance between George and Joseph.

Double no!

"I-It looks like Santa- I'm sorry if-"

"No, no, it's alright."

The scene ended before it could turn awkward, the day ensued in a smooth and uneventful manner, concluding with me lying on my bed and thinking about beards.

I had some before being inserted here. Something left untouched as it was fairly short and I didn't have any reason to style it in any specific versions.

I could also remember scratching at the bit below my chin as a relaxing action while thinking deeply about something and… I guess I was starting to miss it after just some time without those.

I sighed tiredly, leaning deeper in my pillow while trying to move my hands away-

_**While forgetting that I had the Spin still ongoing during my brief trail of thoughts.**_

The accumulated energy didn't dissipate by the moment I removed my hands away from it, the sudden development causing the pent-up stress to imbue into the sphere _before exploding in numerous shards that seemed to shatter the window nearby._

I almost gave out a frightened whimper at the sudden loud noise and the destruction of the window, my hands rushing to my face to see if any of the metal splinters had reached there, maybe cutting somewhere without me noticing.

Instead of feeling any cut, I felt my lower face rather… fluffy compared to how I had left it just mere hours ago.

I glanced down, my orange eyes noticing in dread the noticeable amount of blond hair appearing right near my mouth-

_**Oh NO!**_

Before I could have thought more about it, I felt footsteps rapidly approaching the door of the room and then… _this happened._

"Dio! What's wrong? I've heard a loud noise and-" Jonathan stopped, his entire posture tensing up in shock at the sight he was presented with.

I don't know if it was the golden beard, or maybe because I looked fairly shell-shocked myself, but the boy blinked and… looked happy.

"Y-You are Santa!"

_**NO, I'M NOT!**_

"Jonathan," I said with my most stern of voices, catching the young man from continuing with this madness as I was already regretting having taken this stupid addiction. "You will now return to your room, get yourself a good rest and this has never happened."

Not dangerous my new beard!

"B-But what about-"

"If you don't want to have coal for next Christmas, you better be behaving well, young man-"

The door slammed shut at that as the boy rushed out in a fearful state, a muffled _**I'm Sorry **_still reaching my ears while I prepared some more Spin energy to fix this madness.

_**I, Dio, reject the aspect of a beard for the Greater Good!**_

* * *

**AN**

**Little Omakes that I've decided to upload when someone gives me the idea. I will pick carefully any ideas proposed in Reviews/Forum Comments. I initially planned to have an alternate story to contain all the omakes (thus the whole Absolute Divinity: Side Stories not being there after I decided to back away from the whole idea) and I decided to just put those 'side stories' within chapters.**

**Yeah, that's it and-**

…

_**WRYYY-!**_

**P a treon . com (slash) socialistbukharin**

**k o-fi . com (slash) justbukharin**

**REVIEW Q&A!**

**Orion399****: Hamon will have a major role thorough the entire story, even when the Stands will come out to play a role. I can't tell much more about it, but yes, it will be cool. Also, I think the butterfly effect will surprise many when will actually enter in action… just not in the ways many expect it to be. I wouldn't consider the other JoJos erased from this timeline.**

**DG2****: We are talking about Jack the Ripper, the man that pulled a murder spree in london in the span of a few months and avoided being even close to be found by Scotland Yard, which was an elite part of the police at the time. I wouldn't consider him easy to find even with George's pressuring for his capture.**

**KingAllen****: Might plan to make an Omake version of that bit of the chapter with little Jack, just you wait!**

**Indra Senin****: Depend if it would be convenient or not for Dio.**


	6. Giovinezza (6)

**DISCLAIMER**

**The following is a fan-based**

**FICTION**

**All Parts of the JJBA are all owned by Hirohiko Araki. **

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**Capitolo Primo: Giovinezza (6)**

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It was early in the morning, Jonathan was still sleeping and George had just recently started to go through his daily stack of paperwork from his society, leaving the gentleman stuck in his study room until at least breakfast.

Two hours, it was always that much.

It was the first time I found myself waking up at this stage of the way and, despite my careful attempts to have a healthy sleep schedule, I had been so unprepared for the little nightmare I was provided with the night before.

Dinner had been quite delicious and carefully studied as usual before being consumed, thus denying the chances of any external influence to cause this bad dream.

Yet it was easy to know that there was nothing natural within that curious circumstance, especially with what I faced in that sequence.

I was sitting on a well-decorated blue chair, another chair standing right the opposite to mine and a dark-yellow table between the two seats.

We were all floating in unknown darkness that seemed to best represent the true face of nothingness.

I was feeling… numb, unwilling to display any emotion to the figure sitting right in that second chair.

His face was shrouded in shadows, yet I could see his golden locks combed in a spiky style.

He was donning just a pair of yellow pants with green hearts placed by his kneecaps and some pointy shoes going up.

He was humming quietly, his lack of activity urging me to study appearance, his shirtless self as his ripped body just looked far too unnatural to be his own.

There was a white scar by his neck, right to show where _Jonathan's _body has been connected to Dio's head.

I held myself from flinching, it was far too clear who I was looking at.

"Why?"

My lips parted to dispatch the query, unsure of the chances of getting a reply of this grim figure, of one of the greatest fears I had over my plans.

"Incorrect," DIO replied with a soothing voice. "Truly a wrong question. Far too predictable."

There was silence, and his smile widened at the confusion finally breaching through my composure, gloating in his quiet amusement over my restrained squirming.

"What do you want?" I asked once again, this time adding more sternness to my words.

He blinked. "What an unruly fool. Do you seriously think that because you were blessed with the ownership of my youthful body, you could just childishly play the part of the rightful beholder of the Heavens?"

My orange eyes narrowed over the glimmering golden orbs finally reducing the effects of the shadows.

"Yes," I stated firmly, mustering every inch of my inner bravery to stand up to this mockery of a dream.

There was no chance that this was a real situation.

If it had been DIO Over Heaven, then yes I would have been genuinely feared the worst considering his immense hold over dimensional-hopping, but I knew for a fact that this wasn't the case.

This… whatever it was, it wasn't something that was happening for real.

"Yet your left foot is twitching," The vampire pointed out dully, his smile dropping to a little scowl. "Your toes are wriggling in what could easily be seen as fear."

I didn't back down from this, having noticed myself just a moment ago about the situation and… I was prepared to reply in kind.

"I guess that I still need to train my body to better resist the dreadful air you have around yourself," I managed to state with some difficulty. "In fact, I think my soul is far from quivering at your irritating presence."

He blinked. "_Ho ho?_ You think that you can hide your emotions from me?" DIO mused with some fascination. "I'm easily perceiving your fear through that shallow thing you call courage."

"Heh-" I smiled madly at his comment, causing him to give a curious look right at my reaction. "Then you truly have steeped so low in recognizing the magnitude of emotions, about what truly courage is."

"And you have taken the annoying habit of mocking your betters, you pathetic mongrel," He said, his hold over the right armchair causing the bit to crack and shatter at his strength. "Maybe you should-"

"Did losing your soul to the Mask truly affect your capacity to think?" I interjected with a morbid tone of voice.

He blinked, dropping his irritated look to show some surprise at my bravado.

"You think you can afford to make these remarks? Do you think you can challenge me, DIO, with your rebellious effort?" The vampire pressed on, trying to gain my fear with his intense stare. "The Stone Mask was an instrument to accelerate the means to attain victory over my foes-"

"But it failed to give you the same perspective as a mere human," I pointed out snidely. "You were literally going blind with every decision after donning that hideous tool from the Pillar Men, failing to grasp the stupidity you would then commit on multiple occasions."

"There's no such thing as-"

"First you decided to fight Jonathan when you could have gotten him kill in any other fashion instead of personally," I continued with a bored gaze directed at his growing scowl. "Then you decided to play around with Jotaro."

"JoJo was my foe! As if I would have deprived myself of the delicious sight of seeing him fall before my brutality-"

"Yet I recall he had you beat **thrice** before dying."

DIO snarled at the interjection but he seemed to hold himself well enough to try again.

"Hamon had been a cheap trick that proved to be complicated without proper preparation."

"Which you would have countered if you had considered it way beyond a simple 'trick'," I chided lightly, staring for a moment at my hands while remembering the power flowing in my veins as I first awakened the Ripple. "You could have beaten him by being serious, yet you had to become emotional over killing the last obstacle to world domination-"

"SHUT UP!" The vampire shouted while slamming his closed fist on the table, creating some cracks onto it but giving me just some minor nervousness as… he was still not attacking me.

My theory that this was all a fake moment in my mind giving me more strength with my initiative in roast the hell out of this faux blond.

"But I suppose your fight with Jotaro has to have some serious reason to see you lose to a mere seventeen years old with a weaker Stand than **｢****The World****｣**," I mused with a giddy smile on my face, enjoying _way too much _seeing the now-red face of the effeminate vampire… I sure was not going to turn into. "It certainly has nothing to do with the fact you literally played around with him until he surprisingly 'won' because of the 'Same-Stand' bullshit that got him to learn **｢****The World****｣**'s ability. Heck, even someone as 'mere mortal' like Pucci managed to kill a more experienced Jotaro!"

"He shouldn't have developed a connection with me! He should have perished like he did against Pucci and yet-"

"You still decided to be a fucking moron about it all, Mr. Gasper Vladi, by delaying your ultimate victory until you were defeated-"

**SLAM**

"-!"

My commentary was interrupted abruptly when I saw a certain yellow-colored humanoid appear right in front of the table, its cold eyes fixed onto my face as **｢****The World****｣** stared down at me.

DIO looked incredibly livid after the verbal beating he had sustained, possibly far more incensed than any brutal beating either Jonathan or Jotaro could have given him in his past life.

"I've given you plenty of space to bring around this mockery of a speech," The fellow blond quietly and furiously commented. "An insane spiel, one that only someone that has failed to grasp the reality of his possible demise."

I tensed as I saw the Stand close its right hand in a fist, cocking it a little and… prompting me to search right by my little blue jacket.

I grasped the steel ball, the sensation giving me a certain degree of relief over the chances offered at this range.

…

"But you are correct with this statement."

I blinked at the sudden disappearance of **｢****The World****｣** and my attention subsequently returned to DIO- No, wait!

The smug smirk that was now present on my interlocutor's face was associated with a shorter and slimmer figure, he was wearing the same clothes as mine and my orange eyes were matched with his own pair.

"DIO failed to reach the Heavens, only Pucci _formally _attaining that state of omnipotence for so little time, and now you are stuck in dealing with the newer odds for your very attempt," My doppelganger mirthfully summarized. "Facing new odds, new problems and… the pity of keeping our morality intact."

I frowned at the last bit. "Becoming a vampire wouldn't-"

"We could become the Ultimate Being, if we try well enough we-"

"Would die because of sunlight and Hamon Users." I concluded with an angry whisper.

There was a pause and he sighed. "I think you are merely afraid of the costs-"

"Considering how self-destructive that road is with DIO's example, I think there are other means to achieve control over the Heavens."

"Then why aren't you trying to search more about _her lullaby_?" The clone inquired with the same infuriating smile on his face.

…

"What are you-"

"The ritual," He interrupted again. "Giotto, Fig Tart, Ghost Town…-"

"**I wonder what is the secret key.**"

My hand rushed to my mouth, eyes widening as I parroted his last sentence without even thinking about it.

A chuckle rising from the other Dio sending me in a bout of shivers.

"We both would want to know that," The doppelganger stood out of his chair and crouched beside me. "No, you only want to know that."

A blink, I was alone and unseated while I fell towards the abyss below me.

My sight failing me for several moments, my panic surging exponentially at the closure of this dream before my eyes were…

_**Blinking back to the real world, finding myself drawn back to my bedroom with my body sweating profusely at that horrible nightmare.**_

What did I face there? It had to be something from within.

A lingering spirit of the former owner? Some hallucination over the circumstances that took me there?

No, it would have happened much earlier and… not this suddenly.

I was confused- no, I was floored over the predicament itself, feeling fairly defenseless over the possible recurring visions I might be experiencing.

A message? It had to be a sign, but what was that and why it was important now?

It was connected to the lullaby somehow, something about that very period of time awakening a 'need' to pursuit the non-negligible queries shrouding the Lullaby's mystery.

Why did Dio's mother use these incomprehensible words to compose a soothing song for her child?

Some words were even beyond her time or even beyond her illiterate knowledge, so how did she even attain the capacity to muster them so eagerly and so certain of its meaning as proper part of a lullaby?

I had to make some serious research over the matter and that is why, despite the little nagging craving for some more sleep, I decided to pursue an early trip to the library of the Joestar Mansion.

Knowing about George's passion to recover artifacts and tomes detailing supernatural beings and circumstances from the various corners of the known world, I decided to lose myself in the search of any book that could have even so remotely been connected to the fourteen words.

I browsed for any references for the Bow and Arrow first and foremost, contemplating any quick correlation between the two topics as Stands were important for the ritual and I found nothing about it.

I found some fragments contemplating the existence of the objects somewhere in Egypt, which I was already aware of and thus making the little news barely important in that precise moment, but soon I ended up reading a particularly thick-volume detailing a mythological tale I had been unaware about.

This was already odd.

While I couldn't say that I knew the entire world's mythologies, I made a major focus of studies over the religions developing in the Mediterranean cultures and the story itself was something that I've never heard during my studies.

Still, I decided to religiously give attention to all details of the various pages and I quickly noticed that the tome was all written in Latin, thus rendering the lecture of the text fairly slow.

It was possibly the copy of the original masterwork, created by one of the priests assigned to the translation and corrections of ancient tomes from the former Roman Empire during the medieval ages.

I spent the two hours of peace I had in translating the first two pages and a half from the book, getting just a glimpse at the introduction allowed by the mysterious author.

The 'Mystery of the Sagittarius' revolved around a major prophecy proclaimed by the 'beholder of the mystical weapons', tools used to bring forth the 'mythical nature of men's souls' and that were of interest for many important characters before the birth of Christ.

The introduction was just a summary of the tale, lacking anything about the full content of the prophecy itself or about the 'happening of some grand war among men of various countries'.

Just as I closed the book, ready to make my way to the dining room, I turned my attention to my right and… I was bestowed with a close-up of a smiling Jonathan.

The sight was enough to get me to jump off my chair and fall on the floor. "Gah, why did you-!"

I stopped carefully trying to push my concentration over standing up before giving the greatest of glares at JoJo… only to see the teen having taken several steps back while also giving me a sheepish smile at the development.

"I wanted to tell you that breakfast is ready and father got us a chocolate cake to share-"

He tensed up as I took a step towards him, my face dignifying some anger at the sudden jumpscare and…

He turned around and ran away.

"_I didn't mean to scare you, Dio!_" JoJo yelled while giving himself a _futile advantage for the ensuing chase._

It seems like I would have to continue to traduce this tome on a latter date, maybe after I was done making Jonathan's existence a hell of teases and funny verbal probing_** once I was done with the plans I had for today about Erina.**_

* * *

"What? Why can't we go for the next lesson?"

I sighed as I tried to drown away the whines coming from Jonathan.

We were once again by the little river section that we had been using for some time now as a place to practice some swimming, and this time I had in mind some peculiar escalations that not even JoJo could have thought about.

I was waiting to commence the proper lesson, yet it wasn't going to be a new one as the young Joestar had expected as I was waiting for someone else before starting.

"Can you at least tell me why aren't we even doing anything right now?" He whined again, causing me to suppress once more the need to reprimand him harshly.

While George's antiquate attitude in punishing his son for misbehaving might be wrong, Jonathan sure wasn't making a good case for himself with how much of an infuriating moron he could be when he wanted to.

I was seriously tempted to remind him that the whip was still a tool I knew the location about, just to make him back down with his annoying attempts of distract me, but then I saw her finally approaching from the distance.

The blonde was donning the same swimsuit that she had back during the little montage of scenes she spent together with Jojo in the anime, the little purple-white one that had a little skirt-like frilly detail by her stomach.

She was holding a little basket with some clothes in them and I waved at her in the distance, causing the girl to blush a little while trying to wave back in quite the shy manner.

Once she was close enough, I greeted her properly. "Good afternoon, Erina."

"G-Good afternoon, Dio and..." She bowed a little in Jonathan's direction, the boy looking quite surprised by the planned intrusion and was silent as she nodded right at him.

But that silence? I couldn't afford the moron to lose chances now so early.

"JoJo, can you please stop staring at Erina and greet her back?" I huffed as I concluded the little pressure, noticing the blonde now blushing a little more at the comment while the young Joestar nodded and made a few steps toward the two of us.

"I'm sorry for not greeting you early on," He said while giving a sheepish look at the still-embarrassed. "I was just not expecting-"

"I-It's alright," She jumped in quickly, shaking her head at his apologetic tone. "I- Dio told me that it would have been alright for me-"

I sighed as I was seeing quite a plane crash before my eyes and now I was sure where Joseph got his gig in crashing airplanes.

"I met Erina yesterday while I had gone for that early swim I talked you about," I intervened, getting a quick nod from Jonathan. "By the way, how is your leg?"

Her mouth formed a thin line about being interrupted so suddenly but she gave a little smile at the concern I was showing about that subject.

"It's fine," She said with a stabler tone. "I told Papa that one of the workers helped me with cleaning the little wound and he himself applied some ointment to get it properly fixed by the morning."

Jojo blinked. "You were wounded?" He asked with what I could describe as the prelude of some gentleman-ish attitude.

"I-I tripped while trying to climb a tree," The girl blurted nervously, glancing at me in surprise as she wasn't supposed to tell him but I merely nodded her.

"She was trying to get some acorns from one of the tree's branches," I continued for her, drawing the boy's attention back at me. "But she slipped and fell on some thorny bush, getting some shallow injury on her leg that is now fixed.

I looked down at the spot and it was indeed mostly invisible to my eyes, only some little lines on her skin remaining as a sign of the wound.

"B-But weren't you afraid of slipping and hurting yourself while climbing the tree?" Jonathan pressed on with a hint of awe, almost endeared by this whole situation and-

Oh right, I almost forgot that Joestars do love strong women in their lives.

"A little," Erina admitted shyly. "But Papa told me that fear of the maybe shouldn't stop me from still giving a try to things."

"That sounds like a good life advice," I commented positively. "There are some hefty obstacles created just by fear along our lives and we need to be just brave in those occasions to find happiness."

The two teens nodded at my words and I smiled.

"A-Also, I wanted to apologize for running away last time and… I have your handkerchief here."

She took the small piece of cloth from the folded dress she had in her basket, handing it to the boy as he gave her a thankful smile at the little gesture.

The two smiled at each other, with Jojo clueless about the inner turmoil within Erina and the blonde appearing a little elated about concluding this little tense situation that had been going for some days now.

Without wasting further time, I decided to interrupt this little moment they were sharing together to begin the second step of my simple plan.

"And now we shall move to the reason why there will be no new reason today, JoJo."

The Joestar nodded again, this time showing some confusion as I indicated at the girl.

"Erina here has asked me if it could be possible for me to teach her how to swim," I explained with a careful tone. "But since I feel like you have yet to master the basic lessons after so long, I think it would be nice if you were the one teaching her just the first two lessons."

His blue eyes widened in surprise and the girl's entire face was flaring a lovely red at the little situation I had created for them to experience on their own.

"Y-You mean that I've to help her with-"

"You need to help her about the basics of swimming, and I expect a gentleman-like attitude from you, Jojo," I interjected with a serious voice. "I don't think it would be fair for a fair maiden like Erina to be subjected to any behavior I think you know could be considered childish."

The little lecture managed to get the boy to straighten up his posture and nod diligently as he carefully helped the blonde in the water and… looked at me with an odd look.

"What about you, Dio?" He asked confused. "Aren't you going to enter the water?"

I shook my head. "I think I will leave you two alone for a while so that you get accustomed with each other's company," I replied with a serious nod, hiding the little smug smirk at the fact I was helping the two grow closer to each other by leaving them alone for a while. "I will be back in about two minutes from now and I hope I don't find you making anything that could get me to chide you, Jojo."

I had yet to seriously condemn the young Joestar, only a few times did I have to point out some of his flaws but I had never gotten as far as to resemble the tone his father would use while punishing him.

He seemed to recognize the silent message I was sending him and Erina merely nodded, sporting the ghost of a smirk at the little chance she got to spend alone with the young man.

I proceeded to walk deeper in the foliage, realizing just a little after leaving their eyesight that I was starting to get cold at the fact… I was wearing just my swimsuit.

Once I was enough away from the lovebirds-in-progress, I decided to try my hand in creating a little fire without getting this little forest burned in the process.

Placing some pebbles in a circle and some fallen branches inside the little shape, I tried to ignite the resulting structure with two unused branches and, after about twenty minutes of trials, it started to work properly.

The limited flame was well-contained by the pebbles and I was offered some warmth by the new heat source, giving me the chance to take a seat by the ground and enjoy some peace in my loneliness.

I meditated, my objective being reaching the core of my energy, the Ripple burning from within my soul and waiting to be used properly.

I felt the energy accumulate all over my arms, my breathing becoming almost non-existing as the weird noise accustomed to the ability turned suave and easy to ignore as I stared with limited attention at the crackles of electricity passing through my limbs.

The strange sensation those were creating, bringing vitality to my sleepy body and nullifying the effects of the little sleep I had yesterday, while also warming my entire body a little more than what the flame could have given me.

Just as I started to get better in manipulating the various electric particles between my fingertips, I was tempted to try and attempt to manipulate fire with the Hamon.

It was possible, only difficult to master without particular attention.

I knew that it was tempting fate now by 'skipping grades' to get some interesting ability going with the Ripple, but since I was nearby a river I felt like I could give it a try.

I hovered three fingers of my left hand over the fire, starting to approach it closer as I prepared for some early failure which could result in some minor but treatable burns.

Before I could give it a true attempt, I noticed the flame bending a little down as if it was receiving some wind from above directed downward…

_**But there was no wind!**_

I acted on instinct, pushing some hamon in my legs and jumping to the side as I felt a little pressure from above trying to descend onto me.

As I dodged the intruder, I noticed the short figure plunging down near the fire and… starting to get some flames spreading over his exotic dress.

I tensed up, forcing myself to stand and adopt some guarded posture as I continued to stare at the unexpected attacker recovering from the fire on his clothes.

"Hehehehe..." The figure chuckled dementedly, adjusting his claws properly before taking a stare at me, part of his dress still smoking a little from the close encounter with a fiery and stupid death.

A befitting death for someone like Wang Chan.

The short Chinese man grinned eye to eye at me and nodded. "Dio! Look at you, you… were quick!"

I frowned as the figure, trying to appear friendly after trying to cleave me in half with the crazy claws of his.

"S-Spare me the pleasantries, Wang Chan," I snarled at him, trying to hide the fact I just stutter. "Why did you come here to attack me?"

The shopkeeper hummed quietly, staring up and faking a pondering face before nodding. "Oh yes, I think you are not Dio."

...What?!

"What madness are you talking-"

"Oh, there is no need to lie," The Chinese man muttered with a smug tone. "I realize that it must be surprising to know that your identify has been revealed. In fact, I was surprised myself when I noticed that your aura was different."

I took a step back. "You are raving, you pathetic-"

"Not only can't I perceive the degree of delightful evil little Dio was so keen to sport from the bottom of his heart," Wang Chan interrupted, ignoring the insult I was throwing at him. "But you also have a level of resolution in your actions that makes you even more disgusting."

What was he talking about?

While in the show he did have the means to measure the evilness or the goodness of people, he shouldn't have been able to discern this truth out of such a flimsy 'test'.

"Evil matters little if there isn't chaos to temperate it in the bloody shows that I aspire to see," The man stated while giving a quick stroke of his mustaches. "You are too 'stiff', too stuck in those petty moral rules that-"

He stopped and suddenly jumped in action with his claws poised to lunge towards me.

"**Makes me feel sick inside!**"

I didn't have any steel balls on me and Hamon couldn't be used to harm humans, putting me in quite the difficult circumstance since he was approaching very quickly.

With little time to think, I tried to find any technique that I could use to at least deflect the attack or dodge in time and… I blinked.

_How could I be this much forgetful about that._

It was a risky maneuver, but one that could be pulled with accurate attention and focus, something that I got from training with the Spin.

I cocked my left arm, closing my fist and throwing a punch towards the man's undefended face, still far away for his claws to come and hinder my attempt.

As my arm stretched fully, I forced it to rotate a little and-

**Crack.**

-got it dislocated.

A smile appeared on Wang Chan's face, the shopkeeper thinking I had failed whatever defensive move I had planned to use but… failing to notice that I was already pumping the Ripple into my damaged arm.

**Crac-**

**Crac-**

**Crac-**

**CRACK!**

_**MUDA!**_

Surprise was painted on the attacker's expression mere moments before my fist slammed on his exposed head, my arm having lengthened its reach by making use of Zeppeli's own Zoom Punch.

The sudden impact was enough to get the malicious bastard to get sent away from pursuing another attack, slamming his back on the ground with wide eyes staring up at the sky and a bloody nose.

Meanwhile, my arm retracted back to its original position, the Hamon quickly healing the self-inflicted damage and leaving just some minor pain after concluding its action.

My orange eyes were upon the unmoving Wang Chang, having felt quite the loud crack from the impact and slightly hoping that the counter had broken his neck.

I tried to take a step closer to see if this was the case but, just as I tried to lift my right foot, I felt it restrained to the ground.

I glanced down and my eyes widened in shock at the strange shadow-like substance locking my feet stuck.

"Hehehehehehehehe!" The shopkeeper started to laugh maniacally, jumping and standing up while fixing his nose. "Truly a brilliant and unexpected attempt. Sadly, you are not the only one capable of making use of 'special spells'."

I tried to shake my feet away from the substance, but I couldn't get it moving as the Chinese man started to approach once more, this time calmly.

"Still, fair play, your little resistance will make it more pleasurable for me to murder you before slaughtering the boy and girl nearby."

I tensed up, vigor urging me to crack through this limitation.

But before I could try to make use of my own Ripple, I felt a golden shockwave rush the floor where I was standing and shattering the little shadow-like mud around my feet.

I felt someone looming over me and I glanced behind to see a certain Tibetan man staring down at Wang Chan.

Muddiburi glared fiercely at the now uneasy-looking bastard, the shorter man taking a step back and chuckling nervously. "W-Would you look at that, you have a very strong friend too!"

He giggled and nodded. "I guess my attempt is a fluke… well, at least I gave it an effort."

He turned around and waved at the two of us. "Bye bye, Dio and tall man. Next time I will slaughter you, boy~."

A blink and… he was gone.

"W-What?" I blurted in shock at the sudden disappearance, my composure finally breaking now that the threat was gone.

"He is a dangerous fool," Muddiburi muttered with a disdained tone, then he glanced down at me with a softened stare, one of his big hands reaching the top of my hand. "That was an interesting application of the Ripple."

I blinked and gave a quick nod, a little relieved that he wasn't suspicious over it. "I-I had it developed yesterday while I was practicing."

"But it isn't enough to keep up with this powerful opponent," He replied with some uncertainty. "He used foul magic and it's imperative to see him killed the next time you find yourself dealing with him."

I nodded but he squeezed at my head a little to stop.

"This means that you will have to train more seriously and with me," The Tibetan shopkeeper ordered with a sterner voice. "Your current abilities, albeit fascinating for a novice, are not enough to allow you a fight against such a foe."

"But how-"

"Here," He bluntly interrupted. "At this specific time of the day, I will find myself there. It shouldn't be difficult to find an excuse to leave the young Mr. Joestar with young Ms. Pendleton."

My mouth now closed at hearing the comment, I had a confused frown as I stared up at him once again.

"Are you… reading my mind?"

He blinked, looking to be particularly serious in that moment and-

"No."

I felt some relief at the discovery but just as he removed his hand from my head and started to retreat, Muddiburi hummed. "But maybe yes."

He jumped, rushing away from the foliage and back on the road directed away from the mansion and back to London, leaving me to stare at his retreating form with my jaws close to drop at the floor.

_**I, Dio, might have been trolled by a Tibetan Hamon User with a penchant for mind-reading after all.**_

_**-To be continued…**_

* * *

**AN**

**Wang Chan has struck! And Dio got a Trolly sensei from this encounter.**

**Next time, there will be some shocking revelation, some crazy encounters and… a stalker?**

**_By the way, there is something left for you FFN readers:_**

* * *

**Omake 2: Maria the Ripper**

**Original Idea from: KingAllen (FFN)**

* * *

There was an uneven line of blood trailing on the floor, away from the tracks and deep in the foliage.

I was forced me to turn and approach carefully as I felt I was getting closer to the criminal deed happening nearby.

I could have gotten out to find some of the guards and send them there, I could have avoided putting myself on the front of a surely-dangerous ordeal but… the blood was enough to drive me to intervene considering how deadly this predicament looked to be.

I wandered through the bushes with the intention of doing whatever I could to stop any aggressor, I was so certain of my bravery about the matter and… then I found myself paling at the scene I was introduced to.

The woman was alive, she was leaning on some tree while she continued to try begging her attacker to stop with his murderous intentions.

She had long black hair that reached down below her shoulders but just above her lower back, those were left untied and free. Her clothes were actually quite 'freer' than the conservative standard.

She was donning a frilly white dress, its skirt reaching just below her knees while her upper body was mostly covered… leaving only a particularly noticeable opening that gave a proper sight over her cleavage.

_A prostitute._

"P-Please- No! I-I don't want to die!"

But the silver haired young girl seemed to mind little about the cries of mercy, her posture showing relaxation and eagerness to commit to the final act.

I felt my mind blanking out just for a moment, her appearance suddenly clicking on my head.

Cloaked in a ragged, dark mantle, only her head was visible as she prepared to proceed with the final blow and… she stopped.

The child tensed a little without any particular reason and soon she started to turn her body around to glance right at…

**ゴ**  
**ゴ**  
**ゴ**  
**ゴ**

**Me.**

Emerald eyes were wide open as she continued to silently stare right at my frame, her knives slowly easing over the previous murderous attempt as her attention was taken elsewhere.

She blinked, pondering over what she should be doing with the intruder to the scene, and I merely stared back as I didn't have the means to produce the Spin in time for any attacks.

The girl took a step towards me, then another and I felt petrified at the predator-like attention I was receiving from her.

She crouched, preparing to lunge against me and I took a step back.

I had to do something before I get cleaved in half- ANYTHING!

There were some ideas in my brain, but most of those were things that I knew only thanks to the series she came from-

_**How did Assassin of Black get in the JoJoverse!?**_

Where was the insane dark-haired man with just a scary, odd knife and why the wraith was here to begin with?!

I gulped nervously and I finally spoke.

"Stop." Her body was still tense despite my call. "I-I said stop…_ Jack_."

It was there, in that very moment, that the girl actually tensed up even more and disrupted her preparation to rush me up.

Her eyes were now sporting some recognition, some surprise over the absurdity of my knowledge over her real name.

She stood up, knives at ease once again. "Who are you?"

I found myself impressed by the sudden mood swing and glad that I wasn't subjected to that tensions she was creating with her mere expressions.

Still, I didn't let myself falter in that important predicament and nodded.

"M-My name is Dio, Jack," I stated while pressing my left hand on my chest. "A-And I know what you are."

Jackie looked confused, tilting her head at the cryptic words I decided to use. I knew well enough that I was talking to a child, a very smart one that could easily gut me at the wrong step taken, but still a child that I can talk out of trying to kill me.

"You hear voices, don't you?" I continued, deciding to cut the chase to avoid any other hesitation. "Laments of those victims of the horrible nature of the rookeries."

She took a step towards me.

"We are Jack and… we are angry."

But the girl didn't seem angry at me, her head slightly turning to furiously glare at the still trembling young woman.

"They hurt us, they don't love us-" Her tone started to take a higher pitch. "They hate us and-"

"You wouldn't be better than them."

Jackie stopped, tension rising up again within her posture as she returned her attention right back at me.

"Why?"

Oh Lord, the commonest query a little kid could give to an older individual.

"Because it wouldn't satisfy your anger," I replied with a stronger voice. "It wouldn't fill the void."

An uneasy frown appeared on her face and her green orbs seemed to lose some of their ominous glow.

"W-Why?"

I stared away for a moment and… I imagined the irony of the situation.

I, Dio, was trying to restrain a furious wraith made by numerous children's souls from murdering one of their possible parents… while I had so eagerly organized the homicide of Dario Brando to avenge my own mother's passing.

"Because the glee of the murder wouldn't give you the joy of peace," I answered quietly. "It wouldn't bring back the happiness of having a real life."

The young Assassin took another step, then another and soon… she was standing right in front of me with her knife hanging low at the edges of her fingers.

"You are hurt too?"

I flinched, it was enough to get her to silently lean her head onto my chest, her chin pressing onto the cloth and her eyes still directed up at my face.

A blink, then two and… I felt drawn to try something from this closeness.

She tensed a little as my right hand carefully lifted up to her hair and started to caress her locks softly.

A soft pleased hum started to form in her throat as she slowly succumbed to the kind gesture, completely melting into my chest.

Two thuds dignified the fall of her knives as her hand were carefully wrapping around my waist while her head nuzzled close to it.

_**For a brief moment, I forgot who I was… for I, Dio, was reminded that there was a hint of connection with this unfortunate spirit.**_

"Jack," I called her in a half-whisper. "I think we should be going now… before you catch a cold."

Servants weren't capable of getting sick with proper Masters, but this Jack wasn't a Servant, just a Wraith that still was quick to get a cold without some proper warmth.

She gave a slow nod and I carefully lifted her up.

It was in this very instance that I remembered how skinny this child war as I could feel her rib through the little cloak she had.

With the girl's head resting upon my shoulder, my orange eyes turned to the now calming down young woman while she continued to try and keep a hold of her wounded leg.

I slowly approached her, causing her to tense a little at me but she seemed less threatened by my presence and the sudden docile nature of her assailant, yet still unsure about what I wanted to do with her.

…

**"_Can you walk with your other leg?"_**

* * *

**Jackie-tan is here too!**

**P a treon . com (slash) socialistbukharin**

**k o-fi . com (slash) justbukharin**

**REVIEW Q&A!**

**Indra Senin****: Maybe?**

**Mime-Andromeda-Benetsnach****: The basis is ****｢****The World****｣ ****but I have a unique take to develop it.**

**Tsaqib Ibadurrahman****: Something like 'romance', but not full-fledged romance.**

**Carlos****: It's late 18th century, I don't think it would be healthy for Dio to cast Memes/References if no one is going to recognize them.**


	7. Giovinezza (7)

**DISCLAIMER**

**The following is a fan-based**

**FICTION**

**All Parts of the JJBA are all owned by Hirohiko Araki. **

**Please Support the Official Release!**

* * *

**Capitolo Primo: Giovinezza (7)**

* * *

While I had thought well that training with Hamon would have taken more than a couple of days, I was completely surprised when I was forced to stay put and train for two full weeks.

Muddiburi was a mix of strict and lenient with his early approach seeing me take some careful steps to see where my current limits were.

No major development for me during the first week as the seven days became a mix of gauging my potential and fleshing out some of the little confusion I still had over Hamon.

The Tibetan monk was well-versed in the art, giving a lengthier depiction of how a user was supposed to keep a constant degree of 'healing breathing' going within their lungs.

It was a difficult situation that took me four days to properly get down with and… the results were already endearing.

While Hamon was something I knew best for its offensive purpose, the non-combat abilities that it bestowed to the users of such a mystical technique defied many of the rules I had set to limit its potential.

The first doubt that was shattered during these two weeks was about the power to heal those that weren't capable of normally practice the Ripple.

I was aware that there was a method to force someone to unconsciously produce enough Hamon to heal quickly from any wounds, but that was extremely limited by the chances of success since it wasn't a sure win for the user.

And Muddiburi was more than happy to display another healing technique that I soon learned how to use.

During physical training to attain a proper understanding of my body, I had unfortunately sprained my ankle while trying to jump through the obstacles that the shopkeeper had sent thorough the small clearing where we would be usually exercising.

What followed next left me not only baffled, but somewhat surprised that none of the other Hamon users had ever used this efficient technique.

By carefully applying pressure at the damaged part, what seemed to be a normal massage started to slowly siphon the energy of the Ripple in my tendons and muscle with the purpose of carefully fix the injury my leg had suffered.

It took the monk about a full minute of silence and patience to get the technique to truly mend the damage I had suffered, but I was ultimately restored to good shape and urged to resume the training session.

I was barely 'taught' about the Overdrives and how to properly attain those with Hamon, but this early knowledge of the powerful attacks was more than enough to give me the presumption that I was finally ready to explore Ogre Street.

Announcing to Muddiburi that I would be trying to search for any clues about Wang Chan's whereabouts, the Tibet monk had given me some cautious words about my eagerness of trying out my abilities.

"You might have improved slightly from when we first started the training, but you are far from being able to face alone a Dark-Magic user as that foul man," He had sternly pointed out. "You might be capable of fending off against many supernatural creatures, but I ask of you to not pursue anything more than just clues-seeking."

I was swift to accept the restriction, being perfectly aware that I was going to venture quite close where the lair of the deviant was and I was certainly not going to face him in his own turf.

No, the main reason that got me interested in visiting that dangerous quarter of London wasn't Wang Chan. But the growing issues reported by the local newspapers.

A spree of murders had started to happen around London, all of them seemingly unconnected and done by different murderers.

Yet the curious element that made those jump to my attention was the pattern adopted by the 'killers'.

The victims had all 'Not Odd' carved in their chests, and some of their legs were either cut off or mangled in a gruesome mean.

The message was clear, and I found myself groaning inwardly when I noticed the numerous newspaper that George would bring to the table detailing the kills.

Young people, young men… they were all blond-haired.

_**Of course I would get a murderous killer with an obsession with me.**_

It was irritating- no, infuriating that someone like Jack the Ripper was still wandering and committing his crimes so early on in his lives.

But while I had been unwilling to pursue a direct involvement in putting down that mad dog, now I had the capacity to give it a shot and maybe mortally wound the man before he could try to make more dead people in the near future.

The morning after explaining what I had planned to do to Muddiburi, I was quick to dress up and reach for the dining room for breakfast.

Before leaving my room, I glanced briefly at the desk containing the notes of my recent developments with the ancient tome, finding myself fascinated by the curious content held within the pages.

There were some interesting descriptions of what sounded to be Stand users that existed centuries ago, most of those having perished in numbers in direct confrontations for different reasons.

Some labeled them as the product of evil rituals, forcing entire communities to attack the men and women having these abilities, while some were just assassinated by fellow greedy Stand users.

Reaching up to translate more than half the book, I was also provided with some clues over what the lullaby could truly be referencing about.

Despite the senseless fighting drawing some tumultuous times back when Stands were a thing in the past, there was a changing element presented by some mysterious being influencing history itself by outright purging the Stand Users still alive at the precise moment he arrived.

Someone so powerful and with a Stand so immensely strong that he made people disappear out of thin air.

It didn't take much for me to understand that the one responsible for such an absurd action was the very owner of a Stand I had failed to see as truly independent.

The author was surprisingly highly-descriptive of the odd 'spirit', calling it a mix of a horse and a man, **where the world broke to make way to a newer path**.

**[Made in Heaven].**

It was shocking enough when I first translated the very paragraph that explained its appearance and I was forced to take a moment to ponder over this little development.

The complex ritual that DIO and Pucci used certainly defied some logical purpose, even more than what a normal JoJo's plot twist was meant to do.

Every adventure had its most bizarre element to drive out the concept of odd and strangeness within the story, yet never I had been more confused by the sudden illogical plan elaborated by DIO from… literally nothing.

Even the official Diary published by Araki failed to explain how did the man gain such a fantastically insane idea from just a lullaby.

It was just… so out-of-character. Dio was still logical, he still had to abide to some natural rules that forced him to take a more careful approach before his opponents.

Pure madness couldn't be taken as the sole reasoning behind this mysterious plot, and I was sure that there was something that had to do with the lullaby.

Something that I would only learn once I was done with the translation of the book.

There was a brief allusion to the words of the ritual by the last translation I had got through, but the full reason behind those were still away from my understanding.

Another good reason to find whoever had given this book to Dio's mother with a proper translation.

Returning back to the present, my mind was quick to notice that I had finally reached for the dining room, and that Jonathan and George were already consuming the content of their plates.

With a quiet but polite greeting, I joined them as I started to carefully eat the simple food offered while sparing just some brief glances towards the youngest Joestar.

JoJo… was less unruly that he had been in the last two weeks.

The result of my manipulations was starting to slowly get him to best behave around George and other people.

The one I had to thank for having given me the chance of finally improve some of the spoiled mannerism displayed by Jonathan was Erina.

The blonde had been clueless that her crush was ill-mannered back in a familiar situation, something that had gotten the young JoJo to actually focus on trying to keep up with the etiquette.

With a legitimate purpose and my advice pushing him in the right direction, I was sure smiling at the fact that the young man was starting to slowly gain more consciousness over his actions.

No more he was driven by pure curiosity and naivety, instead those two emotions were carefully subsided for the seeking of maintaining the proper image of a gentleman.

His homework started to appear less riddled with mistakes and the whip he long detested seemed to disappear after starting with this strong approach.

George was positively surprised by this sudden growth, almost growing suspicious as much as proud when he concluded that his son had finally steered to a proper course.

And just like any normal single parent with some suspicions behind their children's moment of unexpected maturity, the man decided to interrogate the only individual that would know about the matter on a closer degree.

I was more than happy to give him what he wanted to hear, but I was also keen to not sound far too much lax over my knowledge of the subject.

He was fascinated by the fact that his son had actually met someone that he felt more than just friendship about, but his early happiness was partly superseded by his worry over Erina's status in society.

While the Canon itself had never delved too much about the girl's backstory, it was explained that Erina's father was sent to work in India with his daughter some time after the early bits of Part 1.

I felt it strange for a 'simple doctor' to be sent to work in the conglomerate of countries in Asia, so my good understanding of the situation itself made me consider the chances of the man being a wealthy medic.

George felt at ease when I mentioned that the girl wasn't a peasant or a lowborn, something that partly ruffled me since I was still miffed by society's current standards, and that I was certain that her father was possibly rich.

The old Joestar was careful to probe more about the matter with his contacts, and I was relieved when he confirmed my loose claims.

James Pendleton was an influential doctor that had graded excellently in Cambridge and had pursued a stellar career in the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries.

The pedigree was undeniably good, and more than enough to see Jonathan continue to meet with Erina.

Of course, I withheld 'how' they had met up with each other and I keep myself from telling anything about the talks I had shared with the concerned father back to the two young people, but I was quick to tease if the circumstances back at the swim lessons allowed me to.

And there were plenty of chances to mirthfully poke at the two lovebirds-in-the-making.

With a calm sigh, I took the last bite from the food available on my plate and I decided to calmly address the situation with George about my plans for today.

"Lord Joestar," I said with a faux-nervous, but mostly-calm tone, drawing the attention of the man almost instantly. "I wish to make a request about today, if it's possible."

The old Joestar frowned in surprise at my voice, but he gave a nod. "Sure, Dio. What do you need to ask?"

I sighed. "Before leaving my home to be housed by you, Lord Joestar, I had tried to find an object that is dear to me and… I would like to request permission to try and find it in a place I'm sure that it could be located," I explained calmly, trying my best to not point out too early on what I was really searching for. "It wasn't in my family's house just a day before I left it and… I think it was stolen without my knowledge."

The careful wording managed to get the reaction I was trying to get out of the man, George frowning in curiosity at my words.

"What kind of object would see you this much distressed, Dio? Is it something I can buy back for you or-"

"My mother's wedding dress, sir."

My interjection was swift, curt and somewhat impertinent because of the timing, but the shock at my answer was more than enough to get the man to forget about my 'lack of manners'.

A grim look appeared on his face, possibly connecting Dio's mother to his wife and… seeing how dreadful it would be for a child to lose the last regalia of one of his parents.

"I-I see," He briefly stuttered, sobering up from his mournful state pretty quickly to not give too much away about his own sadness. "And you think that it was stolen? Do you wish for me to ask the police to search for it or-"

"If it isn't too much to ask about, Lord Joestar," I interrupted once more, this time making sure to appear as polite as possible. "I wish to personally see in a possible location where it could be, a shop that is known to sell robbed goods."

Which would be Wang Chan's shop, and I wasn't going to even come close to despite how much curious I was about browsing its contents.

I, Dio, preferred to live smartly instead of dying because of stupid fascination. I needed some more time of training but… maybe in a few more weeks, I could try something about it.

"It would be dangerous for someone as young as you are," George pointed out with some concern. "I'm sure that the area where you lived-"

"Was incredibly harsh against 'intruders'," I muttered nervously. "I understand the worry, Lord Joestar, but I've wandered the place for most of my life and… I know how to avoid any trouble there."

I wasn't even sure if Dio had been conceived in Ogre Street, but considering that he had visited it enough to not be considered an 'easy target', I can only guess that I could exert some influence over part of its inhabitants.

Or at least, avoid getting suddenly stabbed and mugged during the walk.

There was some uneasiness over George's mind whatever he should have allowed me to go or not, his face displaying this turmoil for everyone to see and… I felt relieved when the nobleman decided to sigh in defeat.

"I will see to… have a carriage prepared, then," The man grumbled quietly. "But I hope you understand that I want you to return back to the mansion in two-hours time after you have left."

A little curfew, quite limiting to be honest, but something I was happy to comply about.

Jonathan merely stared at the conversation in pure silence, unsure if it would be correct of him to intercede within the discussion because of the topic.

If there was something that JoJo was quite deterred from speaking about was his mother.

It had been a revelation that got me surprised and confused, but the childish explanation that he offered at my pressure was more than enough to get me to not ask for too much about it.

He was awed by the image his father had built over the woman, mesmerized even. But JoJo was also saddened the more he heard about her as he never had the chance of meeting her on his own accords.

He had only his only parent's recounting of her personality, of her stories, of her appearance and about the love she had for him.

It was enough to make me back away from asking, to get me to think about Dio's mother and what she would think of this situation.

I wasn't her son, but I was inhabiting Dio's body and that would probably get her angry if she had been alive. Confused, enraged and sad.

Terribly sad for losing her child like this, even though the horrible deeds he would have committed.

_**As if I hadn't planned to do my own bad deeds…**_

Once breakfast was over, I reached once more for my room to pick up my jacket with all the equipment I had planned to take on with me.

I had ten steel balls on me, the Spin having been trained as religiously as Hamon was during those last two weeks and, while I felt still far from achieving the Gold Spin, I felt more accustomed to the nature of the bizarre ability.

Deciding to not waste more time thinking about the past and the future, I channeled my thoughts to the present as I waited patiently outside of the mansion for the carriage to move close to the entrance.

Bidding some last words to George and Jonathan, I proceeded to board the carriage, giving the place where I wanted to be left.

It wasn't Ogre Street that I planned to be dropped by, but the street just beside it.

I didn't need some panicking rider to blurt out my plans so suddenly and I needed to be dealing this at once instead of wasting too much time soothing people's worries.

_**After all, I had a murderer to catch.**_

* * *

Ogre Street was as horrible as the anime had displayed it to be.

The worst Rookery, a cursed place in London that has been considered the most dreadful street of the city for the last century.

The titles weren't overstating the cold chills going down my spine when I first looked at it as I turned the corner to enter it.

I had seen some ugly places in my former life, areas with known-criminals living around and having their own fiefs within the district, but this one was surprisingly much different than I had initially thought it to be.

Expecting to be received with the same 'warm welcome' that Jonathan had received back in Part 1, I was surprised to be actually ignored by a large majority of the people wandering that cold street.

Orphans, beggars, and prostitutes were occupying just small sections of the street to offer their own services.

Thieves, assassins, and even the black market was there in its true glory.

The beggars here weren't even trying to ask for pennies from the people there, already-knowing that only a few individuals could afford to support them.

Truly a sorry state for a district of one of the greatest capitals in Europe.

I didn't waste too much time lingering in the main street, unwilling to get noticed by some unpleasant groups lurking around for some quick hit-and-run.

My eyes narrowed at the open door that led inside what looked to be a pub, my instincts tensing up as I decided to enter inside and find some refuge from the cold weather persisting in this part of London.

The moment I stepped inside the building, the chilling cold was replaced with some pleasant warmth.

It was an odd switch of temperature, to be so sudden and so… well-calibrated.

I didn't stay by the entrance as I kept walking, my anonymous state mattering more than genuine awe over the unexpected swing from cold to hot.

I reached for the counter since all the tables were mostly occupied and I needed to have some private chat with someone that had to know plenty of rumors born from this part of the city.

Ignoring the immediate creaking of the wood, I leaned on the counter while waiting for the host to finish discussing something with some clients, the burly-looking man frowning at my sight but he seemed quick to conclude the conversation he had been engaged me so that he could interact with me.

"It's been a while since we saw you around, Dio," The bartender grumbled quietly while starting to clean some empty mugs. "Almost a month I would say."

"There has been circumstances that saw me leaving my former home," I mused carefully, unsure of the nature of the relationship Dio held with this mysterious individual. "My father passed away _peacefully_."

He snorted. "The old fart croaked his last breath? What a tragic day for the income he was creating for me."

Ah. Dario was a frequent client of this place, possibly making Dio come here to buy him the booze once he was forced to bed.

"Truly," I replied tightly. "But I'm here to find some solutions to a few of my questions."

"Do you have the means to find these 'solutions'?"

I dropped five pounds on the counter, the man scooping the coins quickly and away from everyone's sight.

"I see that you are prepared indeed," He said while giving a nod. "So please, do ask."

I hummed quietly at the bribed compliance, but I continued.

"Three questions," I muttered quietly. "The first one is… did my father leave a wedding dress a few months ago?"

The bartender blinked. "That pretty thing? If I remember correctly, it was your mother's right?"

I tensed a little at the comment, but I nodded slowly at him.

"I still have it, never had a reason to truly trash such a gorgeous dress and…" He sighed, giving me a serious look. "Your mother did help me a couple of years ago. She offered me some food and some blankets to use when I was robbed of my bed and most of my reserves."

I eased up in relief at that comment and I sighed. "Can I have it back? I can spend money for-"

"Oh no, it's yours alright," The host admitted quickly. "I ain't keeping that thing around and, to be fair, I hated your father for making his wife's life a horrible one."

With my eyes widening, I waited just a couple of seconds to see the man return to the counter with a small brown box with him.

As he offered it to me, I decided to steal a quick glance from its content and… it was a wedding dress alright.

All white, filled with frilly details and… it was hers.

Closing the box, I nodded back at him. "Thank you."

"Nah. Nothing to thank about, just dealing with this little debt and," He paused a moment and sighed. "What else do you need to know?"

"Do you know Wang Chan, the shop owner in-"

"The creepy freak?" The man huffed with a shake of his head. "He is a nasty bugger, quite the annoying prick to be fair and… what do you need to know about him?"

"Has he moved away from his shop?"

"Not that I know, at least not in the last few days," The bartender replied with a nod. "He had gotten madder as a bat in the last few weeks, saying stuff like 'annoying imperso-something' and stuff like that."

...Dammit, why couldn't that bastard keep quiet?!

It means that killing him was going to be more of a priority than hunt down Jack, but then again who knows how many would take the crazy man's word for truth.

"Last question, what is it, brat?"

I sighed at the comment but I nodded at his pressure.

"There has been some murders happening in London in the last month," I started to explain with a more serious voice. "All blond young men, the writings on their chest and-"

"Oh, you are searching for him too, aren't you?" The host inquired with some curiosity, making me frown in confusion.

"What?"

"You ain't the first guy to ask about 'Jack', and I would even dare to say that the very individual is a client right now."

...What?!

Before I could push for more answers, I felt someone rest their hand over my left shoulder.

"I admit I wasn't expecting someone to ask about this guy, young man," A strangely-familiar voice piped in from behind me. "Yet, the thing I can't just make sense about is… your strange smell."

I tensed up, nervousness rising from my chest as I slowly turned around and I was greeted with quite the familiar face.

It was the 'Gentlemen protector', the JJBA's best Waifu and only holder of the 'Best Best Friend' award in the series.

A younger Robert E. O. Speedwagon was looking at me with a fascinated look while two other individuals were staring at the scene from a few meters away from us.

I could recognize… the Kenpo Master and Tattoo, both being thugs working for Speedwagon and…

_**Why where these three here and now of all times and places?!**_

"My… smell?" I blurted out without thinking about it and I found myself chiding out my decision to speak so suddenly.

The fellow blonde blinked, adjusting his bowler hat and he nodded.

"After having been around for some time here in this entertaining part of town, I have acquired quite the capacity to smell people's morality," Speedwagon explained with a polite tone. "Kind of an important ability since people here can get pretty feisty when someone isn't looking properly- but I think the issue is about your odd morality. You are good, but bad and… also good."

I blinked at that last, confused particle and I frowned.

"Maybe I'm just into the gray-side of things?"

"Oh? So you aren't a goody two-shoes?" He asked back with some surprise.

"Not much, no," I admitted calmly. "What about you?"

The man frowned again. "What?"

"Is your smell 'good' or is it a strange mix itself?"

There was a pause at my pressure, but he managed to get an amused snort out of his mouth.

"What if I have a 'bad' smell?"

I felt my lips twitching at that opportunity for a joke, but I bit down the need of pressing on.

"You haven't attacked me yet," I pointed out calmly.

"That's because you don't seem much," The man retorted calmly. "Plus, the boss wouldn't like if I picked on brats. Am I right, boys?"

The other two thugs nodded together at this comment and I felt perplexed by this answer.

A boss? Wasn't Speedwagon supposed to be top dog of his own group already? Was there a detail that I was missing.

"Yeah, she wouldn't want to see some kid getting his ass handled by a proper thief," He concluded with a tired sigh. "So how about we skip the pleasantries now and we focus on why you are trying to find Jack?"

I blinked and nodded. "I've reason to believe that he is actively hunting me down. I wish to end him before he becomes a problem."

…

"Really? I mean, I understand he's searching for people that are young and blond-haired, but I'm quite sure he is searching for someone else," He replied with a confused tone. "I mean, I've heard he is searching for someone older, with stronger posture and quite the authoritative air to himself."

"What?"

"That wouldn't explain why he's targeting kids tho," The Kenpo Master muttered quietly. "Still, the boss was fairly sure that the target is older and she is quite serious about it."

...She?

Just as my brain continued to fail to grasp the full extent of this ludicrous conversation, the entire chatty nature of the pub seemed to cease down to silence the moment someone else entered the establishment and… I was forced to stare at quite the development.

Wearing what looked to be an expensive dark-blue dress that was accentuating her figure a little better while also covering a little more her chest and stretching down below her kneecaps.

Her blue eyes sported some confidence, which in the last encounter I've seen her wasn't there and… she froze when she noticed me.

She was surprised and for good reasons, maybe even more than how shocked I was in finding her here of all places.

Then, the young woman's lips turned in a small but determined smile as she literally rushed towards me, arms wide open as she went to scoop me for a quick hug.

"Lord Dio!"

Oh no. God, Heavens, please don't make this a thing.

"H-Hannah?!"

The dark-haired beauty giggled, squeezing my face close to her abundant bosom and I was subjected to the unpleasant and quite drowning sensation of being deprived of any means to draw some air.

"To think you would be visiting here, Lord Dio," She exclaimed quickly. "I wasn't even prepared. To think that I would have been granted such a miracle."

...Okay, what is going on here? Why is everyone in this bar clearly threatened by this courtesan and… why was she wearing such an expensive dress?

"M-Madam, I think you are suffocating him," Speedwagon pointed out with a light stutter, making the woman tense up a little as she noticed that it was indeed the case.

A quick gasp and I was soon freed from that horrible hold. "I-I'm so sorry, Lord Dio. I was just overjoyed and- and-!"

"H-Hannah, you can calm down," I swiftly interjected, trying my best to not appear that much air-deprived. "I'm not angry and- what is going on?"

Her panicked expression to reveal quite the pretty look on her face. "Oh, so much has happened since I've last seen you, Lord Dio."

I nodded, gesturing her to continue.

"You see, when you saved me from that horrible man, I thought well about your merciful intervention, and about your good heart to protect me from Jack," She almost spit poison at that name, but then she continued. "And I decided that I should indeed strive to become the best possible, learning from your teachings as much as I could and… I ditched the brothel."

...That is kind of good but immensely bad considering she was referring to 'teachings'. And there was only one thing that I could have 'taught' her without thinking too much about it.

"Hannah," I tried to keep calm while replying to her. "Please, tell me that you didn't-"

"That's why, instead of pursuing that disgusting career, I decided to preserve my purity while trying to do more, much more by using your gift," She paused a moment to reach out something from one of the pockets in her dress, causing everyone to tense up and duck behind some covers.

Orange eyes stared fixedly at the small sphere-like object.

It looked like a well-shaped pebble, but then I noticed something happening.

It started to rotate, it was spinning and… I noticed the familiar pattern.

Color drained from my face in full recognition and proof that I had indeed made something incredibly odd and worrying out from a mere saving.

Hannah here, a simple ex-courtesan, was happily displaying how well-versed she was with the Spin and… I gulped nervously.

"T-That's good, but what made you think that-"

"Noblemen are usually frowning down on the plight of us poor people," The young woman interjected with her explanation. "Yet when I thought I was going to die, ignored by the grand majority of this city, I was granted the peace of my mind when you broke me away from that silly mindset. The world is now brighter that there is someone like you around, Lord Dio."

The way she sounded so over-zealous over my title and role within her rescue effort, I was being reminded of a certain crazy servant of DIO.

At least this one isn't a crazy-looking man with a scarier Stand.

I gave her a slow nod. "I-I see. It's good to know that… you are thriving now."

"Those are flattering words, Lord Dio," The girl almost vibrated as I concluded this comment, her smile widening in quite the cute and scary manner.

Is that even possible? No, I shouldn't be even asking at this point.

"It was nice to see you here, Hannah," I said with a calm tone, ready to get out and just ask about Jack on another day, but just as I said those words, she tensed up and took hold of my hands, putting them together with hers.

"Lord Dio, please. I wish to show you my headquarters and… I will also show you how useful Speedy and his comrades are."

I didn't need to glance back to the trio to know that they had to look so embarrassed by how they were cowering for someone that sounded incredibly-nice but also absurdly-dangerous to have around as a leader.

Instead I was trying to find a way out of that pleading, only getting more horrible scenarios that could develop from refusing her 'kind offer'.

How should I've seen this one coming?

I gave her a patient sigh, or something close to that, and I nodded. "I will accept your humble offer, Hannah."

She giggled and nodded. "Then let us go. I don't wish to inopportune Lord Dio for too long."

Oh that is nice and- W-WAIT, HOLD A MOMENT!

Panic surged as I was suddenly yanked out of the pub, my free hand managing to take hold of the brown box containing my-_ Dio's mother's _dress as I was forced to deal with the quite highly-paced rush through Ogre Street.

And while I could hear Speedwagon and his two friends following behind, I couldn't help but think how horrible this situation was going to end like.

_**I, Dio, wasn't certainly in the mood to deal with a case of the Yukako-kind.**_

_**-To be continued...**_

* * *

**AN**

**Lord Dio-sama just got his first loyal follower! Rejoice!**

**By the way, there is something left for you FFN readers:**

* * *

**Omake 3: My Bizarre Stalker...1?**

**Original Idea from: Dyliokhan (SB)**

* * *

Waking up with this dreadful headache sure was starting to put me in a bad mood this early in the morning.

There was silence and yet the sickness was still there to put me in a state of major distraction, enough to make me slow down in my efforts of getting up.

As my stretched arms slowly sunk back to the mattress, I felt something oddly soft standing beside me and covered by the sheets.

The open palm of my left hand was pressing on it, but not squeezing it as I was aware that until I was sure about what was going on, it was best to not trifle with fate itself.

I could recognize the texture of skin beyond the feeble fabric, enough to put me in quite the alarmed state.

Panic rushed right into my mind as I considered the circumstance, my brain picking the various possibilities that might have happened to me.

I had eaten normally like usual yesterday by dinnertime and the Hamon training with Muddiburi hadn't left me overly-drained as the first times.

I had been drugged and… someone was sleeping beside me.

A woman, if the clue of this discovery was actually what I think it was, and that dreadfully brought me some scenarios that weren't even close to good.

There were servants in the mansion, young women that were stuck in the social ladder and that were possibly endeared by the possibility of engaging in some romantic relationships with young lords with high chances of having a more than comfortable life.

I gulped nervously, my lips twitching in grand displeasure as I seriously hoped that I hadn't been taken advantage about as that would have been… a horrible development for me, Dio, to actually consider.

But it couldn't be possible, _it just couldn't!_

In Canon, Dio and Jonathan never had to face this kind of issue, nor I expected George to not keep a mindful watch over any leeches trying to worm their way in his family's home.

Yet, while these trail of thoughts were meant to reassure me that nothing fool was afoot, the more I dismissed these theories, the more I felt like I was starting to be left with no actual clue about what was going on here.

Just as I planned to make a quick rush towards the door, hoping to alert the owner of the mansion about this situation, I felt the warm body beside me stir a little.

A soft hum, one born from some happy sleeping, was the prelude for a the stranger to finally move out of the covers and reveal her identity.

A dark-haired head slowly pushed out of the warmth of the fabric, bright blue eyes starting to calmly open and stare right into my face.

There was a smile, her lips twitching in quiet amusement as she greeted with a small sigh.

"Good morning, brother."

WHAT?!

No, there was no way that- _she _has the same length of hair as JoJo and- but he- she- Oh God!

The one I was staring at was what many could consider the genderbent version of someone I knew about, someone that wasn't meant to be in my bed right now and… not as a girl at least.

I sweated cold, as the dread that had until now waited for the omen to unfold was already grasping over my panic and squeezing me for a reaction.

_**I, Dio, was starting to feel a little bit confused but immensely horrified by this discovery.**_

"Oh?" She hummed in minor surprise, her eyes landing right at my still hand as it was cupping not-so conspicuously part of her chest.

I forgot to move the hand. Now this is going to end poorly for me, with me either getting killed, exiled or maybe tortured by the Joestar Patriarch.

She blinked, her smile still there now increasing its intensity.

"Oh… my~."

Did she just 'Ara Ara' in English?

N-No, I can't just let this happen! I need to move before something else can happen in there.

"I didn't mean to-"

"It's alright," JoJo mumbled giddily. "I trust you, big brother. I know you didn't mean to sully my innocent flesh."

The emphasis was more than enough to put me on the edge, urging me to release my hold over her and retract my hand away from doing more harm.

What is going on? Some attack from one of my enemies? Was this the result of Wang Chan's dark magic?

My mind was incredibly riddled by the frightened state I was, but the young woman beside me merely yawned cutely and snuggled closer.

"J-Jojo, you shouldn't be-"

"Hmm, but it's alright for siblings to share the bed," She interjected with a huff, glancing up with a pouty look. "Plus, I proved you wrong about what you were saying about you liking more sleeping alone."

...What?

"I mean, I had to dose your cup yesterday with something Papa is using with his sleeping problems and-"

"J-Jojo."

The girl blinked, but she accepted the interruption with a stride. "Yes, brother?"

"Was this something perhaps called… Barbiturate, or Chloral hydrate?"

There weren't many sleeping drugs/hypnotics that were available in this era and the ones that were there… I was sure couldn't be used to induce sleep.

Both were deadly, with the latter having been rejected as a proper medical to use in any circumstance.

I was seriously hoping that it was the former since it didn't have the same rate of deadliness as the latter.

"I… I think it was some herbs dad brought from some store in India," She replied with a hint of uncertainty. "The shopkeeper said that it was fine to make use of those to reduce sleep problems, but that it had to be taken with some moderation. This is why I decided to use very little to merely have you sleep better… with me."

So I was subjected to some mysterious drug that got me to sleep deeply enough for the girl to enter my room and get inside my bed.

I was starting to slowly calm down at the fact that I was still clothed in my sleepwear and that everything was there on me… but then I realized something I should have noticed way before this.

"Jojo… why are you wearing nothing?"

A little blush spread on her cheeks, as she still smiled giddily at the newest discovery I made.

"There was so much warmth and… I decided to merely remove some of my clothes so I could stay close to you… big brother."

For as much as she was trying to make it sound like a normal thing, I was fairly sure, especially for this century's standard, that what she was doing could be considered incredibly scandalous to deal with and…

I almost forgot that JoJo wasn't much of a rule-follower of the 19th century's etiquette.

Shit.

"JoJo, there is a limit to the affection a brother and a sister can have," I tried to bring some sense to this insanity. "While you are correct that some siblings, at least until they are younger at the age of 10, can share the bed, it's improper for a boy and a girl of our age to consider such an endeavor."

There was a pause, her face now sporting a blank look and her eyes almost glowing with a strong hint of… something close to… anger?

Yet she didn't speak, nor she tried to do anything in this pause, merely staring me intensively right at my face and… finally she smiled.

"I-I see," JoJo admitted with a calm sigh. "I understand what you are trying to say."

...Why she was still smiling so mischievously when- UH?!

I tensed up as she suddenly wrapped her arms around my neck and brought my face closer to hers.

"Then I guess… we will have to be much more than siblings~."

I flushed red, my brain blanking out for a moment as the closeness was just too much to me at this point.

My hamon crackled, coating my body in new energy as I felt my tiredness I had been experiencing until now draining to nothing and soon I was left with a more attentive mind-

_**And then I woke up back in my room, alone and without any major noises rupturing the quiet of the place.**_

I blinked as I noticed the little sweat on my face, the blush on my face and… the lack of a certain gender-bent woman trying to do some stuff that are best keep unsaid.

Moments passed, I stared up at the ceiling in an effort to calm down and…

I sighed.

"I guess I should be more careful with Hamon Training… maybe something did happen there," I whispered to myself as I started to prepare myself for what was going to be a long day… like usual.

Hopefully, I wasn't going to face this kind of nightmares again…

_**I, Dio, wasn't going to deal with that kind of developments. Especially not with a female version of Jonathan.**_

* * *

**AN**

**So there were two people that suggested this in SB and the reason why I didn't put Speedwagon in this Omake, Stugary1, is that I prefer to present characters in the main story first and then they will be available in an omake.**

**Still, he will be there for a continuation of this odd story so yeah, your idea has been saved and you will credited when due.**

_**Also, am I the only one that just can see female Jonathan become incredibly clingy onto Dio out of her efforts to befriend him? And Canon Dio wouldn't have even been able to reject her since he has a soft spot for kind women.**_

**Lastly, I don't actually like the ship cause… I don't feel it as a 'serious ship' but more of a 'crack ship' if I have to be honest.**

**P a treon . com (slash) socialistbukharin**

**k o-fi . com (slash) justbukharin**

**REVIEW Q&A!**

**DG2: Pace will be a little more than just 'daily'. Worry not!**

**Ant0nius: It's about [Made in Heaven].**

**Doctor Doofenshmirtz: Had to double-check. I found little to no mistakes.**

**Remzal Von Enili: I generally put Jack with Nursery Rhyme and Jeanne Santa Lily. The chibi trio is a must!**

**I'm Da Bomb: Are you saying that JJBA is bad since it has antagonists? But yes, good stories needs to have conflict. Sometimes it's inner and sometimes it's a clash between good & evil or corrupt & justice.**


	8. Giovinezza (8)

**DISCLAIMER**

**The following is a fan-based**

**FICTION**

**All Parts of the JJBA are all owned by Hirohiko Araki. **

**Please Support the Official Release!**

* * *

**Capitolo Primo: Giovinezza (8)**

* * *

The moment I was led inside the abandoned warehouse that had been turned in the hideout for Hannah's gang, I felt a brief shiver of self-disappointment over what I was looking at.

I suppose I should have expected to see this happening. Somehow.

I couldn't certainly magic some clairvoyance from utter nothingness. With my current abilities being far from accomplishing such a deed, I still had to rely on logical ramifications born from simple but deep events.

Hannah was one of the various inhabitants of the British Isles, but like the majority she was incredibly bent by the nature of the present state of society. The United Kingdom didn't offer means for low-borns to truly rise up from the dust, leaving many broken and left succumbing to the horrible truth of the stagnating situation of the world.

People that were so desperate for a chance out of this deplorable hellhole they had been thrown into not because of their actions, but because of their unlucky upbringing.

Dio's charisma proved to be as divine as I remembered it to be, but the peak of this unique trait was reached when he first mastered the beastly nature of vampires, when he become a cruel and cynical being that could easily strip humans of their hopes, turning them in puppets ready to be manipulated by him.

It was natural for him. No empathy for individuals, only some inner lust to see blood being spilled by people, may those be his foes or his allies.

Before he took the mask? There had been some subconscious manipulation from his part to worm himself into his minions' hearts, then he would offer them guidance, trust, and utmost pride in a glorious future.

In this period, these three things were something that many poor people didn't have, thus turning easy to mold under his perspective of humanity.

But there was something of a flaw in his ingenious charisma, and that was the inability of manipulating multiple people at once to the maximum effort.

Chaos helped him well in having none rebel against him, only a few eventually seeing his true self and bailing from his plans… but this was all after meeting with the Joestar family one way or another.

Part 3 showed this issue masterfully. While he recovered, while he prepared to make his glorious victory to be his ultimate one… he also failed to notice that one couldn't just brush away someone as dastardly strong as his fateful opponent.

Fate was a strong element in the story, where the Joestars became its champions against the group of villains trying to conquer the world or just let it burn even more as it was now.

But the true problem about my current predicament wasn't truly Dio's charisma. It was the fact that I had pretty much stumbled in the creation of something much more meaningful than just a young man's ambitious plan to become rich.

The British Empire was starting to reach its Zenith, completing the final expansion of the Colonial holdings.

The death of Queen Victoria was going to make the social issues within the grandiose Great Power crash down on everyone, shaking the political boat more than many contemporary politicians could have foreseen.

From poor people being left without guarantees to succeed in life only to be thrown into factories or into the trenches, to the nobility starting to see that their usual petty plays around the traditional parties wasn't going to work any longer with the growing chorus of reform.

Communism never truly entrenched in the country until much later in the twentieth century, but there was already something that was going to pave the road for some unpleasant circumstances to deal as a single individual. Or even a big organization.

The Labour Party was still far from becoming worrisome for them all hiding in their mansions, but the moment the Great War was going to come in and sweep generations off entire nations, things were going to take an ugly turn.

I could see already the lines of the deformed webs already contorting and, despite Dio's interest in making the world is to rule by improving it from the dust, he failed to notice that there was just too much to do on his own.

The world was far too big and corrupt to be ruled so instantly. The takeover has to be subtle and decisive instead of some bloody war to unify everything up.

Control has to be coaxed into the people's minds, it has to be rendered a must and a need for them to accept in their normal lives as an alternative to the current time's squalor.

Make them feel easy in their cage, so that the captor can go ahead and mold the bright lights of a properly-made future.

The mere sight of the well-cared warehouse, with the numerous boxes filled with food and resources currently littering all over the inner section of the building, was enough to give me a glimpse of what a single action, may it be out of kindness or for something else, was capable of achieving so suddenly and without much notice.

After leaving the box with the dress to the closest place I could reach, I proceeded to carefully comply to the former prostitute's request.

Hannah was still smiling eye-to-eye as she started to give me a tour around the place, the rest of the group having taken seat by some of the tables prepared in the crates-free area of the warehouse, to stare and try to understand how I was their 'inspiration'.

Legitimate as a concern, appearances can be quite the mirror that fools people about one's limits and potential. A true deed of power was necessary, but not one done so quickly and without a deep reasoning behind.

I could grow flowers on the wood of some of these boxes, but that display of 'magic' was only going to get them disappointed over my own means to create changes.

I needed something bigger. Something that was a must to accomplish, like an important mission of sort.

Something that would have to wait for now as I continued with the tour, quite unwilling to show any major displeasing actions before the young woman.

Hannah was capable of using the Spin, not truly something worrying if I had her set a couple of meters away from me… but she was attached to be like glue.

The moment she decided to snap, either for me being too uncaring or for some misunderstanding during our interaction, I was going to find a way to dodge or manipulate some Spin's attack.

And that wasn't something I could easily accomplish in a state of stress. Not yet at least.

"I hope that there have been no major attacks against the police," I muttered quietly mid-discussion, gaining quickly the dark-haired woman's attention.

"Not truly, no," The former courtesan admitted calmly, her smile faltering a little at the serious topic. "But we have managed to steer them off with some appeasing bribes."

I nodded at the action, knowing that it was best to avoid having to deal with some officers snooping around for criminal deeds.

"That's good to know, Hannah," I calmly commented, the girl almost squealing to the praise. "I hope you will continue this once an opportunity for us to act about it will happen."

"Kind words from you, Lord Dio," The young woman replied kindly at my words. "But, if it's not too much to ask about, I would like to know if you have… any plans that we could go through with together."

If she had been a puppy, I bet she would have waggled her tail madly at the possibility of standing close to me for that much long.

"Albeit I can't offer any grandiose plans just yet considering the surprising revelation of this circumstance," I started to answer her implicit query, noticing almost suddenly her deflating at my early words. "I can offer some minor guidance for the time being. Just enough to give you all something to do while I make some proper plans that can offer you some real action without dangers."

Her blue eyes shone brightly at this. "You mean like giving us some tests to prove our worth?"

...Not truly what I was referring to. But I still gave a solid nod at that, the girl smiling in response as she paced quietly back towards the trio of man that was still looking at us talking.

But it was just as she eagerly made her way back to the rest of the gang that something odd caught my attention.

It was a mere instant, a blink within time that didn't match up with the previous seconds as I saw a darker shadow obscuring the frame of the young woman and I felt tension as I recognized that something was descending quickly towards her.

It was a box. Someone had moved it towards her, ready to have the wood-made crate collide with Hannah's skull.

The Spin wouldn't have been quick enough, the gravity dragging the object quickly down showing no limitation in its fall and… I moved quickly, Hamon pumping rapidly in my legs.

"Hannah!"

My voice ripped through the silence and mute scene, the woman reacting instantly as she swiftly turned around to see what was going on with me, but then her eyes noticed the approaching brown-colored box falling upon her.

Her jaws gawked at the incoming pain, but…

_**I moved her just in time.**_

After pushing her away and making her trip on her butt, I moved backward to avoid the crate myself, the timing just perfect to avoid any unwanted splinters to reach out for my unarmored body.

I felt adrenaline rushing and giving me a new degree of awareness of the situation, being far too sure that the predicament hadn't been a coincidence and… _I felt someone moving behind me._

With the Ripple still coating my body in new energy, my reaction time was in its best shape as I mindfully started to dodge around two- no,_ three knives being used to get a solid hit on my chest._

Sweat rolling from my forehead, I managed to counter this assault with a quick kick at my attacker's ribs.

**Crack!**

It was a pleasant noise to hear considering that the one maimed was this figure, the aggressor backing away instantly at the sudden counterattack, with one of his hands now reaching by his aching chest.

My aggressor groaned and snarled, a mix of wounded person and furious animal as he tried to bring some balance to his footing.

I had my eyes narrowed on the man's face, almost snarling back his name at the ridiculous ambush he had set up for me.

"To think that you would be the one to find me, Jack."

My words pierced like thousands of dagger right back at the murderer, the young man displaying a mirthful grin at my words.

"It's you, Dio~!" He chuckled in a moment of lucid craziness, then his stare focused back on me, his hold over his monstrous knife tightening as he took a step towards me. "It's you. It's YOU! He was RIGHT!"

I grimaced at the loud outburst, the psychopath clearly unable to restrain the amusement at having found me. Rather 'unflattering' considering the kind of bastard I was supposed to kill now.

"Oh? Was it Wang Chan that told you?" I took a step forward myself, causing him to blink in a mix of childish wonder and awe. "I suppose that you got a little bird to tell you."

"A strange bird," He muttered with a hint of surprise. "Why, we know the same birds too then~!"

He jumped, his smile widening at the fact that I hadn't moved yet as I carefully waited for him to get close enough for me to retaliate.

One of the things that truly made Jack a horrible killer was that his main flaw was the very strength that got him so famous both in the original timeline and this one.

His preys were weak, too prone to get scared of sudden attacks, making his job of stabbing them to death easier to accomplish.

He had never fought against someone lacking fear, someone that knew how to defend themselves.

I waited just at the last moment as I saw the knife ready to plunge on my neck, my head moving swiftly away from its trajectory as I proceeded to land a punch to the injured part of his chest.

The moment my fist landed on the skin, I could feel the entire body tense up in pain as the Ripper tripped to the side, rolling away as he tried but failed to stand up from the previous blow.

"Weren't you going to kill me, Jack?" I inquired dryly as I started to walk towards him. "Knives ready, you were there, prepared to gut me… but now, you will be the one to perish by my hands!"

I lunged over him, ready to conclude this madman's career here and now, but just as I leaped forward-

**Clang.**

I felt something metallic wrap around my right leg. Surprise turned in panic as I felt yanked away from Jack and into the wall, my face making the acquaintance of the barrier first thing first.

I groaned, my entire body burning at the sudden attack and… I heard a familiar chuckling.

"To think that this 'strange bird' did right by following around the curious child," Wang Chan mirthfully commented while standing a few meters away from where I was.

He had his claws already unfolded, yet the other end of the chain was on his right hand.

"A pity that it wasn't a true fight to understand what went wrong," The Chinese man commented darkly as he started to approach me. "A pity that your demise is so sudden and meaningless."

Before he could take any other steps, the malicious shopkeeper was forced to back away to dodge a…. Spinning ball.

The sphere of energy rushed for a little longer before slamming and exploding a couple of seconds later.

We both glanced right at the origin of the attack and… I was stunned by the sight I was presented with.

I had gone through the hour trying to keep Hannah from snapping in such a furious state, yet now she was sporting quite the incensed expression in her petite face.

"Y-You! How dare you attack Lord Dio!" The outburst was met with a giggle by the dark magician.

It was in that moment that I tried to get out of that lock that kept me chained up, but-

"As if you can ever come close to even injure me, little brat," Wang Chan commented, whistling happily as he yanked at my chain a little, disrupting my efforts to get out of my restrictions. "And as if I would let you faker get out of my hold, filthy scum."

I groaned at the circumstance, knowing that I couldn't act accordingly until I was out of that chains.

Yet, as I felt my hopes of winning this battle started to dwindle a little at the unpleasant developments, I saw some sparks erupting from the bastard's claws.

Something was distracting him, the subsequent snarl giving me more hints that something was happening that I couldn't see properly from my current disposition.

I saw something little, something that was spinning and… was creating sparkles out of its continuous impact.

"But I shall make sure that you are banished in the deepest part of hell, you cur," A certain blond-haired man stood beside his boss. "For I, Robert E.O. Speedwagon, shan't allow you to harm this gentleman!"

...I feel a little bit better now that I had this quote repeated towards me.

With the magician distracted, I moved my hands back to the chain, thinking how to get out of there without alerting the man of my activity.

I blinked, the solution easy to come up with as I reached for one of the steel balls in my pocket and I worked to accomplish two manipulations for the chain.

The first one was the main issue, opening up the chains binding my right leg up and the process was particularly quick to accomplish.

It was the second and final one that proved to be much more complicated than I remember it being, as the idea was generally easy to understand.

I had to meld the metal to latch onto Wang Chan's palm, to bond to it as if glued to it.

This took me sometime, the distraction almost close to end as the hat was finally pushed away from the annoyed shopkeeper…

_**But it was already too late!**_

The magician realized suddenly that there was something wrong with the chain, but the very moment he stared back at me, his realization struck as I let out the first spark of Hamon through the metal.

With no means to break away from the chain now connected to his skin, my understanding of his nature was validated when the Ripple _actually _damaged the 'simple human'.

I had long suspected that there was something wrong about the man, something inhuman. And now I was proven correct when the Energy of Light burned into the bastard.

Yet, much to my dissatisfaction, the effect weren't as deadly as I had wished them to be.

The Hamon's electric-like path was interrupted as I quickly noticed Wang Chan getting out somehow from his new binding. My eyes moved quickly, spotting a little bit of flesh still attached to the chain… and the bloody spot on the man's palm as he dropped his metallic claws.

"Y-You- YouyouyouyouyouyouyouyouYOUYOUYOUYOUYOU!"

He trembled furiously, pain exuding from his shivering body and his crazed wide eyes glared at me with utmost hatred.

"YOU WILL DIE. I WILL KILL YOU!"

But not now, it seems.

Just as he concluded this proclamation, the man suddenly jumped right up to the roof section and into the large window above the entrance, rushing into the glass as he made his quick escape away from that horrible situation for him.

There was silence, my body slowly healing thanks to Hamon after making a close encounter with a concrete wall. I glanced around, unsure that things were truly fine as I went to look to see if I could see Jack around and…

He wasn't there anymore. Wang Chan's sudden attack had screwed my chances of killing Jack now before he could really turn in a serious problem and… I was pissed.

"L-Lord Dio, is everything alright?"

I could recognize Hannah's worried tone, but the moment I tried to reply that I was fine, I ended up scooped up in what I could confuse easily as the greatest of traps.

My face was pushed on her chest again, her arms tightly pulling deep in that bosom as I tried to keep afloat.

"I'm so sorry for endangering you, Lord Dio- If only I had been more careful with the situation Jack wouldn't have been able to-"

"_I-It's alright,_" I managed to interject with a muffled voice, managing to pull my lips away from that situation I was facing. "N-No need to worry. I'm alright, Hannah."

It took her a couple of quiet moments to finally ease up her tight hold, giving me some means to breath without having to force my body through the odd predicament.

"Still, are _you_ alright?" I inquired back before turning to the rest of the gang. "Same for you, Speedwagon and-"

But before I could finish with my honest attempt to sound emphatic with what had just happened, there the girl squealed and giggled.

"Lord Dio, to receive so much attention and considerations~!"

Another giggle and I bit down a groan at that reaction.

Despite the fact that Hannah was proving to be stable and incredibly capable with her ability with the Spin, I still have to keep an eye on her volatile personality.

Once I had made sure to leave the group with the simple tasks of expanding with new members and avoid causing any major issues with the authorities, I proceeded to make my way quickly back to where the carriage was waiting to me and… I just made it barely for the curfew.

I sighed nervously while holding the box with the dress within it close to my chest, my eyes distracted as my mind wandered at the implication of this absurd encounter.

While I could see Jack coming to track me down so suddenly, I hadn't expected Wang Chan to be as brutal as the serial killer.

It was worrying, incredibly so, but I didn't plan to back away from the purpose of killing them both as quickly as fate allowed.

I had to just find a mean to deal with them individually… then things would go favorably for me.

**But for now, it was time for me, Dio, to make my way back home and rest from this unexpected encounter.**

* * *

"I hope that your trip was successful, Dio."

Once I was back to the Joestar's Mansion, I had swiftly made my way to George's office to report with what had happened with my solo endeavor.

The man had been busy with some paperwork when I knocked at his door, but he was quick to receive me with a note of curiosity and kindness as I entered while bringing the box with him.

Nodding at his curt comment, I presented him with the content of the box, his eyes slightly widening in a mix of genuine happiness and surprise at my victorious trip.

"I found it right where I thought it to be," I replied calmly, setting the box right by one of the unused chairs as I focused my full attention to the man. "But I'm actually troubled by some of the words I've heard from the one that had it."

Curiosity stirred at my last sentence, causing the man to pause in his work to give some proper focus at my words. "Is that so? Can you elaborate?"

I sighed, prepared to make some careful maneuvering to have the image of Dario Brando stained now that he was dead. Nothing truly wrong, I was actually bringing up part of the horrible truth behind the man's passing.

"The man that had it, was the bartender of a pub close to where I lived," I mentioned with a sigh. "And the man was quick to confirm the identity of the… one responsible for the dress to happen in his ownership."

Interest swelled even more at my enticing comments, and soon I revealed 'what I knew'.

I took a heavy sigh, this one filled with faux uncertainty and distress. "It was… It was my father, Dario Brando."

I could see shock replace the intrigue in the Joestar's face, the skin paling at the realization and I suddenly stared down at the carpet while I carefully picked what was left of the money that George had given me to buy back the dress and… settled the coins right onto his desk, backing two steps away from it.

"Mr. Joestar… I wish to apologize if this seems like a horrible discovery- I knew that father had some drinking problem but… I never thought it to be so bad and-"

"Dio, stop-"

I closed my eyes, ready to continue with the little act I had planned to go through while on my way back to the carriage.

"I-I'm not a thief." _Yet I am. A shameless one if push comes to shove._

"A-And I don't wish to hurt Jonathan." _If he becomes an obstacle, he shall be removed swiftly and without hesitation._

"Dio," This time the Joestar's voice felt closer and stronger, and I felt my body tense up as I failed to notice the man had moved out of his chair and now was close enough for a hug.

Which he went for. His arms pulled calmly close, trying to make the embrace as warm, but also as half-formal, as possible.

"You are not your father, Dio," George started to say. "While you might be related to him, you are your own person."

"..." I was silent, ready to bask a little in the comforting words of the fatherly figure as I thought how smoothly this was turning out to be.

By dirtying Dario's name, I was also making myself appear as an innocent young man that just ended up scattered by the unpleasant nature of my former home's life.

I was made a good guy, one that could be trusted, one that lacked 'enough' backbone to try and do anything even so remotely bad.

I had my eternal alibi with this man, and now I was granted the immunity I needed to step up my games with what I achieved from that visit.

"Dario Brando… I thought of him to be a blunt, rude simpleton, but still someone that cared for his family," The Joestar continued calmly. "I suppose my thought was a mistaken one… yet I think that my idea of you isn't wrong. Actually, I think I considered you far less than you actually are."

...What?

"When I first took you in, I expected you to be as blunt and brash as your father," The nobleman started to explain. "I thought you to be in need of guidance, yet you proved me wrong by becoming a guide for Jojo. By becoming his proper older brother."

I was surprised by this detail as… did George actually mention this in the Canon? Was this is first assumption of Dio's character?

Perhaps, deep down, he always thought that there was something wrong about the blond but- what if he missed entirely the fact that this wasn't a simple case of 'misunderstood child'?

I could see why he would be so protective of Dio, why he would even be so vehement with Jonathan in certain circumstances that saw his son being the one to initiate any brash assault against the fellow young man.

It was all fitting well in that puzzle that was George Joestar I, but it still wasn't enough to redeem him from some of the stern approaches he had adopted against his son.

Albeit a good man, he still failed to notice the danger until a dagger was plunged in him.

Jonathan had tried his best, from being a child to being an adult, the results still being the same despite the tenacity and the proof given to the older Joestar.

I was flattered by the nobleman's words right now, but none forgave him from the mistakes he would have committed if I had been the real Dio.

"W-What if I'm like a mockingbird, sir?"

George blinked. "You are aware of the typology of bird?"

"I've- I've read it in the library," I replied quickly, holding down a false sad hum. "I've read that- that the youngest are meant to ruin other families, pushing eggs and other birds off the nest-"

"Stop, Dio."

I flinched a little and the embrace eased as he finally let go, the man looking as sad as irked by bringing up such a depressive topic.

"You are not a mockingbird, you will never be one. Of that, I am sure of," The nobleman confirmed determinedly. "I know that you are laborious, incredibly determined to prove your worth, but you also have a genuine light in your eyes when you help Jonathan. You care for him, and you strive to make him succeed as highly as you usually do."

There was a pause, one that saw me sponging up all the words that I've listened to.

"Some servants have… reported me that you have helped him early on with his homework when you first arrived," He mentioned quietly, making me tense up again in a real moment of sheer panic.

I had completely forgotten that there was still a couple of butlers hanging around the study room while the older Joestar was out for some work reasons.

To think that they would have reported of my little sneaky efforts…

I have completely underestimated the capacity of some of them to actually show some initiative with some instances.

"I-I was only trying to-"

"Help him around so that he wouldn't face the whip," He interrupted me curtly, drawing a surprised look on my face as he sighed and continued. "I've seen you staring at it for some time now and… I think you understand why I might have to ask you if your father… puts his hands on you."

More silence, I felt uneasy about talking about abuse when I wasn't the victim about.

This body? Probably. I was certain that Dario had some chances to land some hits once Dio's mother was dead but… I didn't have much of a proof other than one final punch showed by the first episode.

So, instead of making this a big lie and risk inflating things beyond my capacity to contain it all, I decided to keep telling some of the truth.

"I wasn't… much. There was just an instance of a slap a year ago..." I paused, drawing a tired sigh before continuing. "But- But I think my mother… she didn't like being near to father."

This time it was the man's turn to tense up at my allusion.

Despite having kept some calm over the instance, the mere idea that my mother herself had taken the brunt of such violence was enough to finally tap at the Joestar's rare anger.

An uneasy sigh left his lips before he gave a brief ruffle to my hair. "Dio, perhaps it's best for you to reach your room and make yourself presentable for lunch."

There was so much left unsaid in that simple sentence. So much I could pick up with a mere thought or two about it, but I decided to not indulge too much the current patience of the man as I swiftly paced out of the room with the box in my hands.

A small smile on my face as I felt that I had indeed been successful with my efforts even with this situation.

Not only was George going to investigate himself about Dario and discover the massive bastard the man had been, but I was also going to pass like a misunderstood child that would never try to create any unnecessary troubles for anyone in this mansion.

A double win that saw me actually standing close to achieve the greatest position achievable in my current role in this family, just enough to prepare me to make big plans here in London before thinking about my next big step in this world.

Once Wang Chan and Jack the Ripper were crushed, the bits of resistance formed by criminals within the capital will be easy to dismantle or even 'reform' to become pawns of my ultimate vision.

As I reached my room and jumped face-first on my bed, ready to finally get some brief rest from what had happened an hour or so earlier today, I found myself freezing at a sudden eep coming from…

My desk.

My sight snapped right to the origin of the noise, my orange eyes matching up with cerulean ones.

Erina blinked back, still sitting calmly on my chair while beside her there was a nervous-looking Jonathan that was failing to bring up his stare to look up at my face.

The book with the translation was open, and it didn't take me too long to realize what was going on.

**I, Dio, forgot that curious teenagers will always be curious teenagers… and I seriously need to lock the door to my room when I'm not around the mansion.**

_**-To be continued...**_

* * *

_**AN**_

_**Don't you just like when two villains pop up randomly at once? Don't you also like that Speedwaifu can drop one of his best-known quotes when needed?**_

_**By the way, there is something left for you FFN readers:**_

* * *

**Omake 4: Early Victory for the Heavens(?)**

**Original Idea from: HappyFox (SB)**

* * *

There are many things that still confuses me when I think about JoJo's logic, but this one was seriously making me look like a mumbling moron.

It all started while I was training with Muddiburi, the Tibetan monk having left for a moment to recover some fallen branches to explain how I could turn anything in a weapon with Hamon if I needed to fight against dark creatures and being.

Alone in that section of the forest, I started to boringly muse randomly over what I could try to experiment with Hamon now that I was without supervision.

Boredom was a terrible driving force for making steps toward new techniques, and I was certainly not going to stay idle for the time being.

I picked one of the branches that the tall man had left nearby and I tried to play around with it with some of the energy from the Ripple.

Bright-red roses grew in its surface, blossoming prettily on it as I glanced at them with quiet curiosity and constant pondering over what I should try to do next.

I picked another branch, this time looking at it thoroughly before contemplating what to try out now.

What if I tried to replicate the Arrow with the Spin?

I blinked, the thought coming in my mind like a blurt, a silly brain fart that shouldn't even be thought about for how flimsy and silly it was as an idea.

While I was perfectly aware what the Arrow did and what form it had, I wasn't aware of the complete functionality it had over the process to create Stands.

People can get killed by it if those lacked the willpower to sustain a Stand, and that was incredibly bad considering that it was rare in this period for people capable of surviving the tricky operation of giving out the embodiment of their fighting souls.

Yet the curiosity to try out and see if I can create something that at least looked as cool at the real thing was more than enough to get me to try and replicate its appearance with this tree's branch.

The steel ball was already spinning at an acceptable pace, the energy ready to be set to be used for this little experiment.

The plan was as simple as usual, the modification of the prime object starting quite slowly but steadily as the body of the arrow attained its slim nature while the tip started to grow into the design I was accustomed with.

The golden design expanded beautifully and soon… it was done.

I blinked in surprise at how gorgeous the little thing looked to be. I had gone by thought, inspiring myself with some of the details I wasn't sure about and it just looked so perfect.

I glanced all over the tip, endeared by the precise curves, the refined design of the meteor-born material and _how strangely it felt to hold._

I blinked again, this time surprise turning in confusion as I tightly kept the object from falling off from my hold, and my orange eyes widened when my hand started to twitch at the stubborn resistance it was meeting against the newly-created Arrow.

I pushed more strength into it, putting more effort in keeping it from falling- no,_ moving out of my grasp._

The weight suddenly shifted away from going to the ground and right… _t-towards me?_

My free hand reached out to grasp into my tense hold, to increase my attempts to keep the object at bay.

At first I was confused over the sudden phenomenon, but slowly enough a cold realization had started to settle in my mind that I might have gone a little more than just make a perfectly harmless replica of the dangerous Stand-making tool.

I tried my best to keep it from moving out of my hold but the more I struggled against it, the more my hands started to sweat at the pressure they were put against and… it slipped out.

It was a sudden action, so sudden that I felt the sharp pain erupting in my chest at the Arrow plunging deeply in my chest only mere moments after it happened.

My eyes went wide in fright and hurt, a yelp burned down as I felt my lungs aching atrociously at the horrible and intense sensation paralyzing them.

"N-No-" I fell on on my knees, my legs wobbling at the unexpected mortal injury already draining of my energy. "I-I can't just-"

I needed to move quickly, before my brain truly went in shock for what had just happened.

I was already bleeding a lot, the wound having grazed some important organs and leaving me with little space to maneuver around.

The first thing I did was to use the Spin to neutralize the Arrow's energy from continuing to delve deeper in my chest, the steel ball pressing on the body of the projectile and denting into the wood in the process.

I felt another sharp round of pain explode in my chest and I felt my heartbeat growing more erratic the more I continued to shatter the tool.

Desperation is a terrible driving force considering that it makes people do some crazy things that most of the time can result in utter fails… and deaths.

I didn't plan to die here, not now that I was just starting with my ambitions.

I crouched even more as I pushed more strength to the spin, intensifying its activity despite my knowledge that it could explode without some proper stability and attention given to the process.

But in that moment of distress, what truly mattered was survived.

My body tensed, my Hamon quivered in a moment of instinctual scare as it flooded through my body and tried to heal the damage that I was suffering…

But just as I started to lose consciousness over the futility of removing the stubborn Arrow out of my chest, something odd happened.

First a loud word, then a sharp pain of something sturdy slamming through my back.

**MUDA!**

Tears formed, I felt a new wave of pain, but instead of finding death out of that sudden shocking blow, I actually felt instantly better.

The Arrow shattered against the unknown attack, and the hole it had created was closed up while the inner damage was fixed instantly.

I blinked, my tears still staining my cheeks as I slowly turned around in a moment of adrenaline-driven panic and… I saw it floating above me and staring down with a calm look.

The humanoid looked bulky, his muscles easy to see on his figure were as massive as those I knew from **｢****The World****｣** and **｢****Star Platinum****｣**.

I was awed, I was confused, and I felt… complete.

The sense of shock intensified as it tilted its head in what I could feel to be curiosity, mystification over the sudden emergence of the Stand before me.

But before I could have given more thoughts about it, I noticed footsteps approaching my proximity.

"I'm back," Muddiburri announced as he dropped several dozens of branches by the nearby ground, his stare turning back at me and… he froze as he looked up to notice the figure behind me.

"Dio-"

"It's not an issue," I blurted, my brain failing to shape up any composure after what I had to deal with. "It's not dangerous."

He blinked, his eyes narrowing back at me. "What is _that?_"

I gulped nervously at the serious tone in his voice, feeling some pressure erupting from him and… I nodded.

"T-That's my- my Stand," I muttered nervously. "A-And it's-"

"How did you unlock it?" He ignored my explanation, taking a few steps towards me. "Your knowledge is-" He stopped talking himself, his frown softening and he looked down at the bloodstain still present to the ground. "What happened?"

"C-Can't you just read it on my mind?" I shot back, stuttering a little as I was almost there to regain my bearings.

"Not anymore."

These two words tensed me up immensely. I glanced back at the Stand behind me, the white-colored being staring back at me with a frown and I gulped again.

"I-I think that is going to be a long explanation-"

"We have plenty of time left," The Tibetan Monk interjected curtly. "I suppose we will skip this training session for this."

His words didn't put me at ease and… I nodded.

_**How was I supposed to tell him that I, Dio, have somehow unlocked the absurd and not-canon **__**｢**__**The World Over Heaven**__**｣**__**?!**_

* * *

**How-how-how-how!?**

**I can already tell that people are going to flip at this as it shouldn't make sense (which is why this is a… Omake?) but surprisingly enough I have something of an explanation.**

**Hamon's healing work as a mean to accelerate the processes of the body to recover from an injury or a wound, but sometimes it can also speed up other bodily processes such as the Arrow's operation of bringing out the user's Stand. **

**What happened her was stupidly silly, incredibly bizarre, and, of course, totally impossible to achieve: Not only Dio accelerated the process to unlock the Stand, but he also speeded up the one to Evolve it to its last form. **

**The idea is crackish, that's why I found it worth of writing it down as an omake.**

_**Next time I will do the second part for Maria the Ripper… so stay tuned for more!**_

**REVIEW Q&A!**

**Jacquelinemueller53****: The young woman that was rescued by Dio when he first encountered Jack the Ripper.**

**Bartholomew Black****: London's underworld isn't prepared for so many Mudas and so much Wryyys.**

**Guest (Chapter7)****: Dio's World will be there, just not the way many expects. It might transcend Over Heaven.**


	9. Giovinezza (9)

**DISCLAIMER**

**The following is a fan-based**

**FICTION**

**All Parts of the JJBA are all owned by Hirohiko Araki. **

**Please Support the Official Release!**

* * *

**Capitolo Primo: Giovinezza (9)**

* * *

Of all things that could have put me in a very complicated situation, it had to be my inability to find means to hide away the journal containing certain sensible information I would've preferred to keep hidden away from the rest of the world.

I should've suspected that Jonathan's curiosity, mixed and intensified by the presence of Erina's own thirst of knowledge, would have ended up with them studying more about me through the things that were within my room.

It was wrong, their faces were already showing that they knew about that, yet the childish curiosity that led them there had already done me no little trouble.

There was no way that someone as young and uncultured as the two lovebirds-in-the-making would have understood clearly that what was there in that paper was beyond the mere fantasy, beyond the mere fairy tale.

Instead of lashing out brutally as the original Dio would have at the sight of someone intruding in his possessions, thus increasing the suspect about his goodwill towards the Joestar's family, I decided to take a more moderate approach.

"Jojo, Erina," I started to say with a stern and unflinching tone, gaining even more tension from the two. "I hope you've some apology to offer me for intruding in my room without my permission."

There was some silence, both shared some looks as if trying to decide how to properly solve this situation without risking getting in an even worse predicament.

"It's- it was my fault, Dio," Erina replied nervously, mustering up plenty of courage to spurn the boy beside her to look surprised and mortified. "I did ask Jonathan about you, since he said that you were taken in by his family and-"

"The fault is all mine, Dio," The young Joestar interjected with a stronger voice, his face showing some embarrassed red at the prospect of having a lady take all the blame on herself.

It wasn't just… a gentleman's behavior.

The mentality of the young man was just… easy to predict. Far too easy. It was just lazy work.

"I suppose I shall be the impartial judge in this matter and say the fault of this odd development is shared equally," I continued with a tired sigh leaving my lips. "In fact, I guess you both will face the same punishment over the matter."

"It was-"

"Jojo, I've already said this was the case and I will punish you both," I interjected coldly, my arms wrapping by my chest as I stared hardly at him, his face twitching in a mix of surprise and embarrassment. I looked at Erina with a softer look, the blonde blinking nervously back.

"Would it be a problem if you were to share this burden with Jojo?" I inquired quietly, surprising her with the lack of harshness. "Would it make him ungentlemanly if I was the one that imposed him to not press the subject any further?"

There was a moment of silence that was used by the girl to ponder properly over the matter and… she shook her head.

I smiled. "Thank you, Erina," I replied with a nod. "And now, you two retake the seats by the desk. I will take the bed."

They complied slowly while I reached for the soft mattress, taking a seat there while staring at the two.

"Now, I want to know 'why' you two have decided to barge into my room to try and find anything there," I started this grueling session of interrogation, albeit my mind wasn't in there to properly survive a long one considering how draining the day had already been. "And no, I don't want to know 'who' did this, I want to know 'why'."

Jojo coughed nervously. "We just wanted to know how your room looked like. We were talking about the fact that you seems so polite and respectful-"

"And we just wanted to see if that was the same with your room," Erina continued for the young man, a shy smile on her face. "Your room is well-cared and neat, Dio."

I nodded at the compliment. "As any room should be."

This comment drew a flinch off from Jonathan, as I was well-aware that he was always late in fixing his room properly. Always at the last minute, when his father planned to pass around and check it.

"Still, why would you put so much effort in doing this?" The young man tried to divert the embarrassment away with this question. "I know that father does this to his room because it's proper as he is a lord… but why would you do-"

"Jojo," The blonde gave a light slap at the boy's arm, prompting him to stop. "Cleaning your own room has nothing to do with social standing."

I nodded again, the ghost of a smile emerging at the sight of the girl showing a little bit of backbone around her love interest.

"Erina is correct with this statement, Jonathan. Cleaning your own room has to do over a degree of maturity… that is actually easy to achieve."

My words sparked confusion within Jojo, as the young Joestar seemed to contemplate over those for a couple of seconds.

"But… why?"

"If you had the chance of deciding to do homework in the morning or by night, which one would you pick?" I inquired back with a sigh.

"Well… I guess in the morning. So I wouldn't have any reason to actually worrying about those."

"And if you had the chance of choosing between fixing your room in the morning or by night, which one would you pick?" I asked again, this time a small smile resurfacing on my face.

He blinked, his eyes widening at the realization. "In the… morning."

"Exactly," I said while nodding at his response. "Both examples are burden in our lives, and so those should be regarded more as duties than superfluous details."

"So I should fix my room-"

"Because you would make your own life easier," Erina interjected with a huff. "Jojo, you shouldn't be reluctant about this."

"It's just that..."

"You find it a boring task to do," I guessed for him, drawing a nod from him. "Something that just feels an unimportant necessity to go through."

"It's still something that you should do," The blonde added with a pretty smile. "After all, I know you are a proper gentleman, so it will not be difficult for you."

Jonathan burned an amusing red, almost trying to look away and hide the shade his face had gained at the encouraging words. "I-I will try to do that, yes."

I nodded at that. "That's good to know, but still, there are a couple of questions I would like to ask you both."

Both nodded calmly, having noticed that I wasn't sounding menacing anymore.

"Okay. Did you open the journal is there on the desk?" I finally asked, hoping for the answer to be one of the acceptable ones.

"It looked important," Erina commented with a curious tone. "There were so many notes about various versions of the same translated piece."

Jonathan nodded at her words. "I've heard from father that there are some important men working for him which roles are to translate from other languages back to British proper. Yet, I didn't think that this was so much-"

"Complicated," I concluded for him, my orange eyes half-closed as I realized that they did read a fair bit for having found the small annotations over the different variants I had for a couple of sentences.

"Still, it seems to me as a good work," The girl complimented again. "I've seen father having trouble translating from Indian, but he also mentioned that it's even worse to try with Latin in certain instances."

"It all depends on the antiquity of the piece. Both languages are complicated," I replied kindly. "But Latin is somewhat easier to understand because most of the European languages derive from Roman Latin."

"Yet you did make a lot of confusing words out of it," Jojo admitted with a hint of curiosity. "There were some terms that just were off about-"

"It's just a fairy tale, Jonathan," Erina chided softly, drawing the young man to a calm ease. "Of course some terms need to sounds 'off'."

Another nod, and with that revelation I was granted some more relief over the matter.

They were blissfully unaware of the fact that everything there was the truth, but I suppose the logic of Stand Users was just beyond the mentality of this age.

People barely believed in 'magic', and not many liked to stray afar from the rules of natural science as it was just recorded as the undeniable law that ruled the world.

Yet the universe worked differently from what humanity was trying to make it seems, beyond the sense of rationality and common sense.

The world was just a bizarre place fitted with pathological liars, and I, Dio, was the only one that could see the truth as it was.

The poor fools they were to believe in a simple denomination for nature.

"Actually, there is something that I wanted to ask you about, Dio," Erina resumed the topic once more, drawing my attention out of that inner monologue. "In one of the pages I've read with Jojo… there was a strange mention of someone ruling over the Stars… and the mentioned sign for that was a mark right by his back."

Jonathan frowned at this. "You mean like my-"

"Your birthmark," I hummed quietly, having forgotten that I had translated that bit.

The Joestars… they had existed way before the noblemen that ruled her near London.

There was a family member that appeared multiple times within the story, hailing what looked to be a copy of what sounded to be Jotaro's ｢Star Platinum｣. The resemblance was striking, but differently from the future counterpart, the Star-based Stand did have quite the powerful ability of moving through space.

Similar to ｢The Hand｣ but instead of deleting matter through its ability to move so quickly, the Stand would actively move through the fabric of space without being noticed by ｢Made in Heaven｣.

It was a surreal ability that reminded me that ｢Star Platinum｣ never developed its own ability despite the pressure exerted on Jotaro in various circumstances.

And no, I wasn't going to consider 'Star Finger' its main capacity to fighting, that would be just limiting of such a formidable Stand.

Perhaps there was indeed something that made ｢The World｣ and ｢Star Platinum｣ equal in terms of abilities, but where DIO's ｢The World｣ was capable of moving through time itself… ｢Star Platinum｣ moved through the space within the stopped time.

This is why Time-Stop never became a complete ability for the Stand, as it just 'stole' DIO's ability to use the Time-Stop.

It wasn't anything about 'similar Stands'. It was all about two Stands meant to match against one another and… DIO couldn't just return the favor by gaining that degree of power with his lack of proper understanding about this reality.

Jotaro's win wasn't one of understanding, but rather one born from DIO's own misunderstanding of the situation that he was going through during the fight.

And just like what would have happened in Egypt by 1987, so a clash between titans occurred between the Joestar ancestor and the first holder of ｢Made in Heaven｣.

The brawl was brutal, even more than any Stand-limited battles I had the chance of studying about… and the result was actually stark clear from the very beginning.

Despite the early disadvantage, ｢Made in Heaven｣ was far stronger and flexible compared to its opponent. A swift defeat for the Joestar ancestor saw also the conclusion of the mentioning about ｢Made in Heaven｣ altogether.

It was something that eluded me, as of why the First User would just cease with its Stand-killing spree, why its abilities would never been used after that singular event and… I knew that the rest of the pages had the key about this massive question.

The conversation didn't continue from there as I saw them leaving out of my room with the good promise that they would never return there without my permission.

I had killed any interest or curiosity by providing them plenty of understanding over the 'secrecy' within my room, demolishing the need of inquiring for more as that case was now solved within their minds.

By the time I was done with dealing with them, I started to plan out where to hide the journal after this unwanted discovery, feeling rather unwilling to provide this kind of material to George too.

The man was a resourceful individual with more than enough experience to draw his own conclusion over this source.

And sometimes myth weren't just fairy tales, this rule being one of the commonest for those that knew about the importance of seeking out treasures and advantages from the past.

This debacle persisted even a particularly calm dinner, with Jojo seeming fairly tense at the chances of me giving out what had happened earlier on, but the boy calmed down when I didn't say anything about the matter.

I didn't saw a reason to become a jerk, and so I just accepted the subject as a closed one myself.

Finally, just as I was about to go to sleep, I found the best place where to hide the notebook, having forgotten that Dio himself had some tricks to hide objects within his own possessions.

The large baggage that had been settled by the feet of the bed was now empty and providing enough space to house both the book and the journal, and hiding those by the secret compartment within the bag offered me absolute relief about the subject.

Nobody in the mansion, not even the servants, were keen to approach the bag, seemingly giving a willing front to preserve my current state of privacy within the house.

I was glad of this little safe spot, even elated at the chance of not having to deal with any future surprise about JoJo coming to snoop around the room with what happened early on.

With a clearer mind, a tired body, and a ton of sensible subjects that still needed to be dealt with, I went to sleep with the sole thought that the next couple of days were going to be quite the busy ones for me to go through on my own.

And in the end, I, Dio, was correct about this very notion.

-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-

Three days passed calmly after that, with my schedule taking a radical change compared to the previous days as I had to take into account the fact that I now had… a literal gang under my control.

While I let a full day pass so that I could clear my mind even more and plan out a proper strategy over several new subjects while also informing Muddiburi of this new development (something that got a mixed response from the man), I still decided to visit once more with the excuse that I wanted to see a nearby library for some new books.

George was surprised by the request, but much more lenient over the fact I hadn't showed any reason to doubt about me.

The very discussion we had shared back when I had returned to the mansion once I had recovered my mother's wedding dress seemed to stick around and build up a good impression of me and… I used it to properly discuss the current predicament with Hannah.

The young woman was ecstatic that I had returned 'so soon' to their headquarter, but her demeanor had turned docile when I asked for more information over the current state of things.

A day offered little chances for some proper recruitment efforts, but two young boys were quickly taken in by Speedwagon, the blond mentioning how good the two were as thieves.

I was surprised by the praise, yet the two individuals in question were both ten and eleven.

Fairly young, terribly so considering the inhuman system we were all forced to abide for now, but their minds were as peculiar as I had thought those to be at the man's praise.

I needed just a couple of seconds spent chatting in a friendly manner with the two to spot some genuine intelligence that just was surprising for someone their ages.

In the end, I provided them with a completely unexpected job, getting some annoyed huffs from both before I had the chance of explaining why the idea was actually a sound one.

It wasn't much of a surprising element to spot on many children working around to support their families, and so, instead of continuing such a dangerous activity that wouldn't always provide them with a good gain, I offered them the humble role of couriers meant to deliver the resources that I considered my own investments for the future.

The work itself looked stupid and 'unneeded', yet I was the one that could see the advantage of bolstering the current recruitment, by pushing for the acquisition of properly-trained men and women that would be then driven to their correct vocations.

It would still take time to gain progress out of this annoying operation, but by showing kindness to many poor family men lingering in London by just providing concrete solutions for the primary needs of their wives and children, I knew I would have ended up getting their unquestionable interest and loyalty.

I had well thought about trying to expand via illegal means, but I was unsure about the pros of such an activity since it would only end up creating more issues with the police the bigger the activity would end up getting.

So that's why I had plans to focus mostly on making proper, legal jobs for good people to be hired to work for.

It wouldn't be an organization born with inner bribery and recommendations like the ones that currently existed, but one of merits and experience that would be seen as the best choice by the people.

It was going to sound 'absurd' to the societal standards of the current time, but there wouldn't be no denial that such avant-garde would only lift up everything towards a quick-paced progress for everyone.

And those that weren't ready for it or that refused the change? Either submission or death by their own traditional mistakes.

By starting with moderate mercy directed at those in need of food and shelter, I was aspiring to gain the trust of those that had long lost hopes from having a future thanks to common means that offered a good income.

The decline was already there for me to take over, and the royal court was just packed with morons that wouldn't give a dime about it all.

I was pretty sure that they wouldn't even care if the entire nation looked to be mere moments to come crashing down upon their silly heads.

Debtor's prisons and child labor were hideous practices, the signs of a corruption within modern civilization.

Those needed to disappear as quickly as possible and with the plans I had laid down for the foundation of my group, I knew that it was going to be a matter of a couple of years for this to happen.

It would take time and effort, attention in large quantity for the administration and the guarantees to the workers, but most of it all… well-made investments.

Money tended to be what truly drive the people to take on the challenges of the workplace in these modern and trying times.

To break their backs over their humiliating jobs, to send their own children to either become thugs or easy casualties in harsh lives spent in factories, or even mothers to sell their own babes for the sake of offering them a better future instead with the ugly household they were born into.

And yet I was also quite aware of the state of the economy to know that money could be easily be forgotten by the commoners for the sake of immediate food and resources.

The greatest example was one of the first main events of the French Revolution, when the peasantry was given no chances of buying bread because of a drought killing much of the grain needed to sustain their survival.

Money wasn't truly an issue back then, but food was.

And I had plenty of food to give, I had plenty of wool to provide for women to create warm clothes to their children, and I even had paper and ink to write.

Give the common man money when due, and he will respect you for the rest of your life. Give the common man food and other important resources, and he will respect you for the rest of his life.

That's what I was planning to accomplish from so little.

I wanted to gain an acceptable workforce that would accept food and other stuff as first wages and thus making it possible for the new organization to gain as much money to start the activity properly.

But not just by remaining with only the single warehouse that was currently under my control.

Perhaps there were even more unused warehouses that could be silently taken away from their original owners and rendered ours via legal means.

The legal system was still far from implement some protections for those declining societies and with the state of the government hindering any chances of reforming that, I just needed to act accordingly to the situation to truly achieve a series of good victories for my plans with the loopholes waiting to be exploited by me.

And it all started from ingratiating the needy.

I needed the mass to rise up but not against the system itself, but to work carefully to subvert it via normal means.

Revolution? Too bloody, too expensive and… easy to be misinterpreted by certain individuals on latter years.

Violence was going to be essential in some circumstances around the growth of the company, both Hannah and Speedwagon were aware of this detail and were accepting of it, but I was happy to learn they were cultured about the nature of… diplomacy beyond mindless violence.

Aggressive diplomacy, to be correct.

The art of entering the lair of various monsters at once, to find the biggest, worst one in there, and to see it publicly humiliated before its allies.

To teach a lesson, to bring an order within the disorder and anarchy of the underworld.

In this case, London's most notable gang was the Forty Elephants, an all-female crime syndicate that was the lengthiest and most resilient of the old gangs that ended up surviving until the closure of the first half of the twentieth century.

They weren't the most violent, but their influence in the capital was as notable as dangerous to deal with without some proper precautions from my part to secure my own bases.

Eliminating them would maybe be considered the worst mistake possible to make,

Removing the leading gang would just create an unpleasant power vacuum that our group wasn't ready to face just yet, and it would cripple my means to even do anything else in life.

It would be a bloody civil war if any of that happened, and I didn't wish for this to be the case as I needed that kind of blood to be delivered into the workforce than to die in battles.

And this is why, instead of pursuing a violent approach with this group, I was keen to try and gain the loyalty of the leader of the group with my own words.

It was a gamble, but one I was well-aware that it was possible to commit to with proper attention.

I was uncertain of their leader's identity, and I knew that Alice Diamond had yet to be even conceived to be around and leading her girls through the streets, thus making waddling in that direction… quite the dangerous tip-toeing for my little organization.

Searching for a mean to have a nice chat with their leadership was going to take a while, but with the current pace of things I was happy with how the situation was unfolding.

Speedwagon proved to be as resourceful as I remembered him being from the Canon, his time spent in Ogre Street having made him the best broker that I could trust into.

He had numerous contacts, but to verify if any had even just a connection with the gang would take some non-negligible amount of time spent in that endeavor.

Something that I authorized him to do as the fastest I dealt with the gang, the safer my efforts within London will end up becoming for the next decades.

With that second day spent dealing with this predicament, I decided to set up a letter-exchange with Hannah, and I had the young woman sign her letters as Annie.

The reason behind that name was connected to the fact that I had mentioned to George that I had met a young girl during my errand of finding my mother's dress that was capable of writing letters and had inquired about doing so towards me.

Some more questions had ensued as to why the letter-exchange was important, ending up with me admitting that I just pitied the child a little about it.

Making their priority so little, I forced the interest that the nobleman might have had over the papers to nothingness, rendering the exchange a safe activity for me to go through without some more snooping.

Yet things at home soon proved to be far from idyllic as I had initially thought them to be as I soon realized that Lord Joestar had some plans for me that I hadn't considered up until the moment I was 'slammed' with those.

While I had thought that schools weren't something just yet for children to go to as… there was no real basic education in the Great Britain, I had technically forgotten that there was something similar to it that just would work with my instance.

Apprenticeship with important professors of major subjects wasn't a novelty for rich people during these people before actually having their children sent to some universities, but I had expected for George to just limit me to pursuit session back at the mansion and do this only with Jonathan instead of forcing me to deal with some old-style professor.

In fact, before being actually 'accepted' by whom was supposedly going to become my newest tutor, I had to pass a normal test of sharing some words with the man in question.

I had to be incredibly polite and respectful, but also show all of my knowledge over the subject that the professor was best accustomed to.

Professor Archibald Sill was a firm believer of the British Legal System, a strong supporter of the Conservative Party, and a proud student of the Economic school based from John Stuart Mill's works.

He looked a little pompous, but not overly arrogant to warrant my utmost wrath with what would become one of the best example of why I wasn't to be trifled in certain occasions with sudden developments.

Especially if those developments were antiquate before the state of my mind and integrity.

After about five hours of conversation, with some proper pauses and some tea being delivered by the servants in the mansion, I ended up escorting a rather confused man to the door.

His beliefs over the Legal System were shattered by mentioning the chaotic state of the current territorial division, which didn't present a unitary system but several Acts that in the end would only favor the English Region.

The support for the Conservative Party wavered at the truthful mention that the party itself survived only thanks to the support from the unionist and the presence of two strong candidates that, once gone, would spell the end of the Tories' dominance.

Killing his passion for Mill's economic thought was the easiest, especially since the man's idea, which had been revolutionary back during the early bits of the 1800, where now tragically obsolete and deadly to the current state of the economy.

In the end, I wasn't the one being hauled with some unknown element, but the professor to be sent packing back home.

George thought I had failed, but even Sill had to admit that the situation was-

"I-I can't teach him anything. He knows plenty already a-and I think I need to retire myself for some self-study."

I hadn't planned to kill the man's career, nor I had wanted to drive him to doubt his own line of thoughts… but I have to admit that I felt quite vengeful when I felt forced to deal with this unwanted circumstances.

I didn't need anyone to teach me anything, for I was Dio and I knew enough to make the world mine already.

…

Or that was the early thought I had up until the Joestar Mansion received another visit from an illustrious character.

It wasn't an elderly figure, nor a legitimate professor meant to be able to taught anyone just yet, but the man himself was nothing to scoff at because of his pedigree.

Having acquired legal education at the Birkbeck Literary and Scientific Institution for a degree of the University of London, the bespectacled man with short dark-hair and thick black-beard had arrived to the home without much notice.

George still opened to him, having been presented with a recommendation letter from Sill himself about this event.

I was tense when I first saw him, the mere sight offering me a sense of familiarity with this figure, as if I had already seen him before from somewhere important.

Despite the fact the young intellectual in his twenties had yet to conclude his studies at the King's College London, he was still praised by the failing candidate to tutorship as someone that would work well with me.

I was confused at the lack of mentioning from any tutorship, but soon I was driven to have a lengthy conversation with this curious fellow.

Time passed slowly, but soon I felt drained of exchanging strong words for three hours of intense chatting about macroeconomics and legal advancements.

We both looked tired from that verbal spar, yet I couldn't help but have to admit that I hadn't gained a victory out of that discussion.

None of his convictions had been dented too much, but neither he came close to graze at my own beliefs.

And so a stalemate had breed the weirdest of draws I could've ever been forced to accept.

But while the man was leaving, biding a curt goodbye to both me and the owner of the house, I decided to inquire more about his identity as it was still eluding me after that lengthy of a conversation.

"Lord Joestar," I muttered quietly, my throat still aching a little at the stressful predicament. "Who… who did I just speak to?"

There was some silence at first, then the man sighed. "Professor Sill had suggested this young man because he was quite the rebellious fellow in his class. He tried to see what would happen when two stubborn eggs crashed into each other."

_A very bizarre omelette, considering that I felt my mind ready to collapse any moment now._

"But his name?" George hummed quietly, pondering a little about it. "I think the name brought up is something like… Webb something."

I blinked, then again… and once more as I slowly realized what had just happened.

"Oh right, his name is Sydney. So Sydney Webb," The nobleman nodded once, ignoring the shocked expression as I continued to stare at the retreating form of one of the greatest figures of the Labour Party's golden age.

…

I gave a nod myself, but this time, instead of pursuing some more conversation with the Joestar, I merely decided to walk back to my room as the situation had indeed changed for the oddest.

_At least this is just a singular meeting. Hopefully._

_**And with that thought, I, Dio, decided it was about time to find my bed and get myself some proper sleep after the mess I had to go through in the last few days.**_

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**AN**

**I hadn't expected to have to write more than 10k+ words for two different stories. I'm deadly tired, tomorrow there will be some Economy exam at Uni (It's more of a test to see if they got the written part of the exams right by PC or not) and then I will have to write some more.**

**I wish to apologize if this chapter contains more mistakes than usual (especially the second part of it), but I've been feeling a little distracted. So if anyone catches any grammar issues and brings them up, eternal kudos to them. **

**Hurrah! *Collapses to the floor***

**P.S. I've been developing plans for a little spinoff that will become a thing… about by the time I will be done with 'Giovinezza'. It will all become clear about why there will be a need for a spinoff once I'm done with this first 'Capitolo', and the only thing that I can say is that it will revolve with a semi-obscure Xovers that I found matching with this period of the Jojoverse. Little early, early warning: It might have some horror-based elements.**

…

**And now here is the Omake… WRYYYYYYY-!**

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**Omake 5: Maria the Ripper (2)**

**Original Idea from: KingAllen (FFN)**

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Managing to convince George to actually accept 'Maria' in her home ended up being quite the frustrating and complicated predicament to go through.

The man was skeptical, and for good reasons as there was just a sense of maliciousness that Jack was unconsciously releasing with her simple stare.

The mix of unnatural silver-hair and ominous green eyes was enough to put everyone in a state of unease, even JoJo failing to hold within his mind the fact that he was scared by the little girl.

Still, despite the dread originating by the mere stare at the 'orphan', the lack of aggressiveness and outright maliciousness from Jack was enough to fuel my argument that she was just a misunderstood child that was abandoned without logical purpose.

In the end, after spending some grueling words over the matter, I got George to see my point as leaving the discovered orphan there without proper guidance might end up creating a new tragedy.

A tragedy he would be indirect responsible for refusing to take her in his humble abode as an extra mouth to feed wouldn't be too much of a drain on his finances.

Jonathan would eventually pipe in by inquiring more about the child, and Jack would offer some curt responses as I had asked her to.

With her cloak hiding both her scandalous clothes and blades, the only thing that could seriously put a wrench in my plans was the possibility of the girl actually blurting out anything that might incriminate her and spark any sort of suspect from the two Joestar.

I was playing a dangerous game by keeping Jack close to me, to let her live despite the horrible nature of her existence.

The little Wraith seemed to be blissfully unaware of my dreadful thoughts as she kept her arms wrapped around my waist, or at least she was trying her best to keep latched onto me with how short her arms were.

With her eyes half-closed in a dazed state, she enjoyed the mixed warmth coming from my proximity and from the inside of the carriage leading us back to the Joestar Mansion.

Mary was going to be a Ward to George Joestar I, but her prime guardian was supposedly going to be me.

It was a test, albeit an irritating one by the way it was presented to me as. I was meant to keep a close watch over her, to see to her basic needs fulfilled, and to make sure she was properly educated the best way possible.

And it just sounded as if I had been given the responsibility of cleaning up after a mutt than taking care of a sentient human being.

It was a subject worth of some anger, but I decided to rein in my furious state by distractedly relax in this hug that lasted up until we were back 'home'.

From there, before returning to my room, I had to take a couple of detours to prepare Jack for her new life there.

Starting from a quick bath to make sure that all the grime and dirt that had been present on her skin was removed, to get some proper clothes for her to wear for the time being.

The girl was a little reluctant to let go of her skimpy clothes, but she was easy to convince when I mentioned that those weren't going to be thrown away, only that those were to be put aside for the time being because they were uncomfortable for her to wear.

She accepted with some hesitation, yet her eyes glowed happily when I presented her with a petite white dress with a little red ribbon.

It was similar to the one she was given by her Master back in Apocrypha, the design having just the minor difference that it wasn't sleeveless, keeping it to a simple half-sleeved point that was meant to hide the tattoo-like insignia that was in her right arm.

Happily trying it out, the girl let out an unrestrained and joyous giggle, the raw state of genuine happiness surprising me in a moment of stunned silence.

She gave a twirl, looking as the skirt lifted a little at the rotation, causing another round of giggles to leave her lips.

"This is so nice, we like it!" Jack stated with a grand note of amusement, her vibrant green eyes returning to me. "Thank you, brother!"

I was caught in a frown at that last word, surprised that I hadn't been labeled as either 'Mommy' or 'Daddy', taking under consideration the fact that I wasn't aware that Jack could stray away from those two terms when addressing people.

It was so surprising, yet so endearing, and I gifted her with a headpat that would then offer me more of her giggles.

Dinner was somewhat a quiet affair, with both the Joestars preferring to keep silence as they watched as I tried to moderate the girl's interest over the food in her plate.

Her stomach was rumbling with desire, and there was no denying in seeing that this was her first time eating something so delicious and that wasn't as dangerous as the things she would find by the streets.

Her manners were lacking since she had never needed to have some class within her craving for food, thus I had to be there to constantly chide her about the way some of the food was supposed to be eaten.

Teaching her about cutlery in that first predicament gave off some mixed results, with her mind quickly accepting knives as important tools to properly divide large object in tiny bits for her to enjoy individually, but outright failing to understand the true need of using the fork to pick up the cut parts.

The disastrous event didn't lack some chuckles coming from both George and Jonathan, both finding the scene of my panicked self to be worth of some amused thoughts.

But for me? I found it to be quite the straining experience to go by.

Jack was stubborn, almost as much as I was, and thus headbutting over this matter caused no little friction early on.

By the time we were done with the food, I found out that the servants had prepared a new room for Jack to make hers to use.

The mansion had plenty of unused rooms for people to take, and Jack had hers just around the corner by the corridor where mine was.

The mere news caused the girl to tense up a little as she realized that she would have to sleep alone and without supervision, but instead of saying anything about this, she decided to let her little irritation still present from the conclusion of dinner keep her quiet.

I decided to not press her on the matter, deciding to just wait and see where things would evolve from there.

Once Jojo and I had gone to our respective rooms, I wasted an hour reading some more the book about Hamon that I had yet to read from.

The subject was interesting, but the lack of practical exercise rendered it just a feeble understanding of the subject, which my grasp over it wasn't even good enough to allow to have some proper usage of the techniques that were listed on it.

Soon after, I was resting softly and without any major distractions creating me any sort of nightmares.

It was a blissful sleep that was contended among numerous pleasant dreams, something that was rare considering the lack of positive novelties that would give me reason to make actual dreams and not think about Part 3.

Yet this little slumber proved to be temporary if not… partial.

I felt my bed's cover shuffling quietly as a small, but warm object snuggled its way right onto my chest, and then started to snore quietly there.

It was a cute snoring, so soft and yet still present enough for me to open my eyes and stare down.

Jack was donning her new sleepwear, a particularly conservative dark-blue nightgown, with her head resting right over my chest, eyes closed in a state of what looked to be calm happiness.

And to think that she had tried to appear annoyed at me.

I almost snorted at the idea.

I, Dio, was sure going to make sure that this little girl was protected as if she was part of my real family, and groomed to become a proper ally to my mission of absolute justice.

But for now, the only thing I had in my mind was… how did Jack came to be?

She was a Wraith, there was no doubt about this classification as she did address herself as a plurality with a feminine majority.

A union of various unborn children's souls that was now lying there and away from its original purpose.

Speaking of which, it was odd that she didn't refuse to stray away from her original task, knowing that her existence was tied to this saddening purpose.

...And that is why I, Dio, was confused as to why she had yet to show any sign of disappearing, almost declining the nature of what a Wraith was.

I needed to do more checking over the existence of Clocktower, to verify if somehow there was much more about the Nasuverse than just Jack.

**But just as Dio lost more time trying to ponder over the true nature and purpose of the child now there in his proximity, Jack's mind was lost in the unconscious but determined thought of one thing.**

_**Always stay close to brother. Never leave his side.**_

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**AN**

**I'm still debating if her name should be 'Jackie Maria Brando' or 'Maria **_**Jack**_** Brando'. Any suggestions about it?**

**Also remind to leave some suggestions about Omake!**

**REVIEW Q&A!**

**Guest 1 (Chapter 8)****: I can tell you that WW1 will become relevant by Capitolo 3. There are still twenty years worth of events that I've yet to dispense and I don't plan any massive timeskips just yet.**

**Guest 2 (Chapter 8)****: First it was a wallet, then it was a new dress, then it was a gang, and finally a warehouse. Yep, the world is spinning alright.**

**Guest 3 (Chapter 8)****: I've reason to believe that Dio in Minecraft would be a God (little digression quite unneeded, but my mind isn't there right now. xD).**

**Deltadragon373****: Ain't it the purpose of reading of a story to explain what will happen to a character? Just wait and see, not even this Author is sure.**

**Guest 4 (Chapter 8)****: I will make that Omake 7.**

**Guest 5 (Chapter 8)****: The World is the same… except it will be different for a couple of reasons.**

**GrumpyGrue****: (Answering to the last review) It would be fun to see her knickers raiding for JoJo's underpants… with innocent Jojo on tow.**


	10. Giovinezza (10)

**DISCLAIMER**

**The following is a fan-based**

**FICTION**

**All Parts of the JJBA are all owned by Hirohiko Araki. **

**Please Support the Official Release!**

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**Capitolo Primo: Giovinezza (10)**

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The forest near the Joestar's manor… to think that I would've ended up spending so much time there.

The limpid river was quite a calming element to what was the turbulent activity that would see me train for so long.

Muddiburi hadn't stopped with just some techniques. He had encouraged me to experiment under his attentive eyes, to expand my arsenal through sharpening my senses, my muscle and my specialization in Hamon.

Heck, even the Spin had to be improved with what had happened when I had faced Wang Chan.

The man was more dangerous than I had expected him to be. True to the older Hamon User, the villain wasn't shying away from employing the most dangerous elements of his connection with dark magic.

I reacted poorly, almost risking to get killed with the rest of my newest minions.

And that was unacceptable.

Once I was finally granted some time away from the theoretical bits regarding my education, I finally regained some free time to spend with Jojo up until a new professor decided to try and study my case.

The situation itself wasn't troublesome, not even in the least, as I knew that my first encounter with Professor Sill had left a particular bitter taste to a large majority of teachers that had known the 'defeated man'.

I expected to be spared by any other annoying instances for a couple of months, enough to allow for some other intellectuals to muster up their bravery at the challenge that I had presented to them by merely being.

The real troublesome bit was how sluggish my capacity to develop new skills was compared to earlier on.

The Spin was simple, but fairly limited to a single technique that expanded on various effects, and I was still far from achieving the Golden Spin.

Hamon was simple… until I had to make some blind decisions over the development regarding it.

I managed to try out my hands, literally, with the **Scarlet Overdrive**.

The blazing results making up for the worrying requirements behind the creation of this powerful Overdrive, but I wasn't certainly going to try and make use of it all the time, especially with how limiting the conditions of the ability were.

And this is why I decided to try out two abilities that were greatly ignored by many users.

The first one was the **Afterimage**. By training my legs to sustain the high-paced style connected to the Ripple, I knew that I could achieve something close to an illusion to confuse my own enemies.

This was going to be crucial as it would easily boost my capacity to evade any dangerous attack thrown at my general direction.

Then there was the **Sticking Ripple**, which would grant me a higher extent of movement compared to normal.

Every surface, may it be solid or liquid, could be walked by with the use of the Hamon. I started slowly and with something particularly complicated.

The river was continuously flowing, thus it wasn't offering me a stable 'floor' where to walk into, but after the first few times I made some progress.

Quick-paced stepping over the surface seemed to help in stabilizing the footing as my own feet were swiftly injecting the water with my own Ripple in an effort to keep afloat.

Muddiburi was surprised by this very last ability and inquired how I had developed this very technique since the last time we've met.

I decided to provide a faux answer, muttering how I had noticed that by applying the Ripple by my fingers and pressing those by a wall or a liquid, those would… stick.

There was of course some skeptical response to this, but in the end this very topic ended up being ignored for the sake of more sparring.

While I was allowed to experiment as calmly as I wanted, I knew that some battle experience was going to help me the most and so I continued regularly sparring with the powerful warrior.

His size should've already proven that he was a difficult opponent, but the fact that Hamon was his main specialty meant that I had to pay extra attention to the fights.

But it was during one of those matches that I finally managed to get one of my long-term objectives as I finally had another mean to attack my enemies with ranged attacks.

While the Spin was still the most powerful thing in that department, my little thinking had brought up a very convenient element that I got through with.

Water splashed by my fingers, and the friction generated… bubbles.

Hamon was the sole cause of this unexpected element as I slowly but surely got hold of Caesar Zeppeli's own ability, the **Bubble Launcher.**

When one thinks of normal bubbles, they would see just some innocuous floating spheres that weren't meant to be used as a weapon.

The thing is that those born from Hamon weren't normal. In fact, those were fairly dangerous because of how flexible they were.

Muddiburi made that discovery early on when I had started to track him down with the use of the bubbles.

Imprecise but powerful, I had to make all 'bullets' count before being forced to drop the barraging for the sake of not draining myself too much about it.

It was a development, a good one, but still away from achieving the true might available with the two variants of the **Bubble Cutters.**

I was far from refining the Bubble-making art to this degree, but I was sure of gaining mastery of this in due time.

With the training regarding Hamon and the Spin continuing smoothly, I was also capable of offering even more opportunities for JoJo and Erina to bond deeper.

The two were fairly close, but still in a state of mutual friendzone. None of the two was ready to make the proper step towards a serious commitment, either out of shyness or because they didn't want to rush too quickly in a relationship.

I could understand the latter logic, but I couldn't accept the former.

And this is why, despite their meek reluctance to try and go ahead with something a little more serious, I managed to make some 'deal' happen between George and Erina's father.

James Pendleton was more than honored to accept a visit for lunch, intrigued to understand what kind of situation was the one between his daughter and the young man that had took her heart with his mannerism and looks.

The doctor was mildly-impressed by Jonathan, almost praising the young Joestar with his courteous attitude and his genuine caring nature.

The compliments easily turned Jojo in a flustering mess, the same happening with Erina as her lone parent decided to tease a little about the future for these two.

The conversation was pleasant, and I tried my best to offer just the minimum input to not steal the focus from these two, even though I had wanted to share some medical discussions with the man.

There was no doubt in my heart that both George and James had understood the predicament quite clearly, and they both were seen sharing some words away from the two possible lovebirds.

With the satisfaction lingering for the rest of the day, I was sure that I had just scored a new ally for the conception of this sweet couple.

Time would be needed, but there was plenty of that to foster such a curious situation.

Still, the pleasant lunch became a cornerstone for the fact that I actively started to 'push' both towards each other.

They were clumsy, they were hesitant, and I granted them some mercy in the form of letting them interact without me influencing their words.

It had to be natural, the love had to be genuine. Or I would set them up for a disastrous marriage and… that wasn't convenient for anyone.

But I would still keep some form of 'watch' over them. I wouldn't creepily stare at them like someone that shipped two individuals madly… but I would keep nearby in case there was a scene worth of truly helping about.

I was interested in their love, not obsessed to see it accomplished.

And while I was happy with how things were setting up with the Joestar family, the mystery behind the Prophecy was still keeping me uneasily attached to continue with the translation of the tome.

The book was mostly done with, and I was sure that the solution was just around the corner.

The identity of **｢****Made in Heaven****｣**'s user, their motivations, their personality… and why they threw away absolute victory mere steps from conquering it.

The alluring case had me spend plenty of my free time about it, those few situations that I wasn't either writing letters to both Speedwagon and Hannah or training with Muddiburi.

The new details concerning the lack of Stand Users got me confused as to why those were even mentioned.

Unnamed heroes going through normal heroic deeds that lacked any correlation with the powers mentioned early on within the book, it should've been as important as the earlier predicaments.

_Or so I thought when I started to notice some strange patterns within some of the heroes._

At first it was a mere suspect, then my attention was raptly given to study once more the new parts as I discovered something that was actually changing my perception of Stands and Hamon.

While Stand Users ceased to be a common thing in the past, there was something of 'fragments' surviving within the few descendants of those superior beings.

It was the energy many could attain by grasping at the potential of their souls, the energy that better described human morality in its pure form.

Hamon wasn't something that had been discovered by spiritual practitioners. It was something that was born from an unique event that I had forgotten about.

The battle between **｢****Made in Heaven****｣** and **｢****Star Platinum****｣** ended with the losing Stand 'sacrificing' what was left of its spiritual form to offer a 'newer hope' to humanity as whole.

And that power was the Ripple, the capacity for common humans to draw upon their own soul to aid themselves against the great menaces lurking Earth back in that time period.

It was a detail that offered so many explanations, and yet brought up some curious questions over the ability of **｢****Star Platinum****｣** to actually bring Hamon to the entire planet.

Absurd, almost ridiculous, but it would explain why both Stands and the Ripple were connected to the fighting soul of their users, or of why the Ripple itself was best achievable by those that had seen tragedy.

From tragedy, you find strength to prosper and bring hope.

And that's what the dying Stand User that had last fought **｢Made in Heaven****｣** had wanted.

Hope to defeat the prime threat against mankind, to cease the problem created by such a powerful force against balance.

It was an intriguing discovery that I was certainly going to investigate more about, especially with the possibility of Hamon being capable of bringing even more potential out of Stands themselves.

I could imagine the boost that the Time-Stop would receive, and I remembered how much it had increased in its 'capacity' the very moment that DIO had drunk Joseph's blood.

I pondered over the infinite eventualities, and the chances of actually unlocking more of **｢****The World****｣** compared to what DIO was able to achieve because of his vampiric nature hindering with his growth.

I thought that I would've been granted a simple and uneventful week after what had happened back at the warehouse with Wang Chan, that both Jack and the foolish Chinese man would've ignored to entertain me with any sudden attacks…

But while I was happy that none of the two had decided to return to the spotlight in these last few days, my concerns were quick to rise up at some reports coming from both Hannah and Speedwagon.

Something 'odd' was happening in the outskirts of London, something that was leaving Scotland Yard baffled and horrified at the crime scenes they had found there.

The reports had been a little more detailed than I expected those to be, granting me a major outlook of the situation I was supposed to deal with.

With this new issue starting to materialize as a threat I had to personally take care of, I managed to get hold of George to explain that I had some important business to take care in London.

"I suppose this is about your little friend?" He inquired with a small hint of mirthfulness. "I guess that she had been missing your presence there."

I blinked at that, almost forgetting that the man was aware that there was someone in London that would send me letters quite frequently and… that he thought it was a young girl that I had made a positive impression on.

"Yes," I dryly replied. "She's been asked for some advice over some unpleasant problems. I think bullies."

"She didn't say this?" The old Joestar inquired. "I suppose it had to be a tough environment."

I nodded. "Perhaps… this is why I would prefer to be there to discuss this to her personally."

"It's important to offer the younger generations some contributions. They are going to represent us older men in the new eras," He commented with a pseudo-poetic tone.

_Yet I'm not that old. I'm barely… 14? Maybe 15 now that my birthday was coming soon._

Yet I was more than happy to take that blessing, ignoring the fact that I was then teased over the fact I was 'doting' over this young girl.

Which was technically bad to even think about, especially considering how Hannah was already obsessed with me despite the lack of direct interactions we had in the last few days.

I was there near to where she was, but I wasn't certainly wasting too much time in speaking about simple topics with the overly-enthusiastic young woman.

Even considering trying some friendly-based situations with her would certainly see me dealing with far more interest from her than I really needed to deal with right now.

Especially when there was a furry problem causing so much of a mess by the edges of the capital and I had to capture or kill as soon as I could.

_**But seriously, how did Wang Chan manage to turn some moron into a werewolf?!**_

* * *

Once I had reached the warehouse, I was met with quite the large group of people wandering around inside the building and browsing through the resources available to them.

Women, men, and children. The vast majority was merely looking with just a handful picking stuff and certifying their picking by the counter near the main entrance.

New workers, possible loyal members of my organization… I was careful enough to not entrust the guarding of the entrance to someone that had just joined the group.

Speedwagon had set his own men to allow the transactions to proceed smoothly and without any problems that could put the entire operation in jeopardy.

The situation was stable there, and so I didn't waste too much time looking around as I reached to where my 'office' was.

The little room that had been prepared to accommodate my own private office had just three chairs (one of which was mine) and a simple desk.

I had yet to gain some libraries to fill with books I had taken from the Joestar Mansion, and I was wary of trying to steal too many tomes from the family's reserve.

Despite the spartan nature of the place, I was quite satisfied with the quality of both chairs and desk, as I could see those being made in high quality wood and being still in good shape despite the lack of use in the last couple of years.

Speedwagon was sitting calmly by one of the two other chairs, giving me a quick nod as I entered inside the room… while Hannah stood up and gave a quick curtsie.

"Lord Dio, it's good to see you healthy and in good shape," The young woman greeted politely and eccentrically, making me nod swiftly at her words.

"I see that you're well too, Hannah. I'm glad," I returned, almost making her grin madly with my 'praise' as I went for my chair.

I paused for a moment, growing accustomed once more to the dim light illuminating the room.

Then I spoke up. "I've heard about your messages. The one connected to the monster haunting the outskirts of the city."

"We've been able to discover that it's a wolf-like creature," The blond started to explain with more details. "The agents from Scotland Yard assigned to the case had reported some claw-marks and pattern similar to a canine creature, but bigger than the common wolf."

"It sounds like a scary beast," Hannah commented quietly. "But I'm sure that whatever it is, it will be properly put down by Lord Dio's will."

I really wanted to dig the whole 'worship' ordeal I was subjected while having the woman around but… seriously, how do I get her to tune down a little bit these instances?

"I think I'm aware of the monster lurking by the forest, but I will have to ask you both to keep quiet about it as it would be for the best to not cause any panic to the rest of the company," I pointed out calmly, drawing some surprised look from both individuals, but then they quickly nodded at my warning.

"Good," I muttered before offering my thought over the subject. "I've reason to believe the creature is a werewolf."

Speedwagon's eyes widened at the curt reply, while the former courtesan frowned in confusion at it.

"A were...wolf? What is that, Lord Dio?"

I glanced at the blond and nodded at him, granting at the man to answer in my stead.

"A werewolf is a creature that is mostly human, except during the times when the full moon is up in the sky. The human would transform in something close to a wolf, but stronger and scarier."

"That sounds… odd," Hannah commented with some confusion. "I mean, I don't wish to offend Lord Dio's deductive capacity… but..."

"Speak up, Hannah," I allowed with a sigh. "I will not punish you for bringing up anything that is important to this situation."

She gave a silent nod. "There hasn't been any full moon in the last few days, Lord Dio."

I returned the nod. "Which would seemingly debunk my theory… but I've reason to believe this werewolf isn't as normal as it might seem," I replied with a careful voice. "I think we might be dealing with some meddling from Wang Chan."

Speedwagon frowned at the unpleasant reminder. "The strange man that attacked us? I know that he is a magician but-"

"You're surely thinking that he did something to the moon… but I think the magic is directed at the werewolf itself," I interjected quickly. "While he's powerful, he doesn't have a grasp of magic that allows him to do such a feat. The issue is the werewolf and… it will have to be put down."

"That sounds… harsh," Hannah hummed quietly.

"Dio isn't incorrect to see it as a threat. While it has yet to slay any innocents, the damage it's leaving around is-"

I held my hand up at this new development, stopping Speedwagon mid-sentence as I thought well about this very notion.

The werewolf hadn't attacked anyone? That was just preposterous considering the predator-like nature of wolves. Albeit there were some wild ones that would avoid attacking humans, werewolves had the means to actually attack a settlement and retreat unscathed.

Victims were expected after two days of attacks. So why there wasn't any?

That very concerned thought got me thinking for a while, and thus I deemed the situation to be far more complex that we were all thinking it to be.

What if the werewolf itself was just being forced by the magic itself? Up until now there had been no reports of attacks of this kind.

The frequency might be helping with the spreading of this news, but I knew that there was also a limit to this very notion.

So what was exactly going on by the outskirts? What was Wang Chan trying to gain from doing this?

...And was Wang Chan the culprit behind this?

Maybe there were other dark magicians I was just ignoring because they were mentioned.

Araki barely delved in magic as an element, but perhaps I should be wary of any surprises set along the way.

I really needed to consult Muddiburi about this, but the timing imposed by the situation just wasn't allowing me to even ponder over gaining some advice from the man.

I had to make some tough decisions that needed to be implemented quickly enough to avoid any eventual victims.

While the lack of any casualties was odd, I wasn't going to test my luck and see how far it would take for a dead or two to finally happen.

Thus I glanced at Speedwagon. "I think we have some untouched cutlery and other expensive objects that are made with silver in the warehouse. Please take a couple of those and bring them to the… Devell Brothers? Those two that said to have a small foundry-"

"I remember, yes and… what I'm supposed to get from that?"

"Lances," I replied with a hint of self-disappointment. "I would've asked for bullets, but we need something ready for tonight and weapons aren't something that we can recover this quickly."

The blond nodded slowly and moved out of the office, while I turned to look at Hannah and-

"We are setting up an ambush tonight?!" She almost squeaked at that, making me flinch and groan.

"Speedwagon and I will set up a perimeter where the werewolf usually attacks," I corrected quietly, making quick note of the tension rising on the young woman's body at being excluded from the main action.

But I had a treat for her that she wouldn't just refuse.

"While you will have the important role of keeping an eye for anything strange happening in the warehouse while we're away," I continued with a nod. "There's a possibility that we might get attacked while we're away. While I'm still uncertain that Wang Chan is responsible for this, I need someone to stay there and keep a mindful watch."

She blinked. "But why me?"

"You've the Spin, Hannah," I reminded her. "And I know you've been training dutifully with it since I've provided you with the basis of the Golden Rectangle."

The girl nodded but then sighed with some reluctance. "But Lord Dio, I know I shouldn't be whining but… I feel like I'm doing so little progress with the drawing. Are you sure that's the only hint to reach the Golden Spin?"

I sighed, thinking back at the time I had decided to actually offer the young woman some help in developing her talent.

She had some easier time learning of the Spin, even using it around with a certain grasp over the complexity of timing and using the ability with moderation and caution.

"If I had any other clues to help with it, I would've offered it," I admitted with a sigh. "In fact, I think we can train together sometimes, if you want."

Her eyes widened at the proposal and her lips twitched in anticipation at such an offer. "L-Lord Dio, I- I'm not worthy of-"

"Hannah," I interrupted flatly. "I think we really need to talk about this situation. I think there are some things I wish to address for the sake of honesty and… for the sake of trust between us."

She looked confused. "W-What?"

"I'm glad that you really care for me this much, I really do," I explained with a hum. "But I think you should drop the formalities… and the worship."

The young woman was stomped by this. "B-But Lord Dio- You saved me from… from the worst, you've shown me the light and-"

"I don't fancy myself a Deity, Hannah," I interrupted again. "While I aim to do something unquestionably beyond the divinity, I think that it should be clear that I too have duties for those that believes in me. You and Speedwagon, both of you've already proven to be loyal to my cause."

She didn't reply, her surprise forcing her to silence as I continued with my speech.

"I will not diminish the importance you've given to our meeting, nor I will say that I'm annoyed by how things have been up until now," I said with a serious tone, my orange eyes still staring at the shocked girl. "But I've to say that I didn't help you because I wanted to have a servant, a minion. I saved you because you were someone in need of assistance, you needed help."

"B-But I thought that-"

"I saved you because you've a worth, Hannah," I interjected with some determination, her eyes widening even more at that. "And from what I've been listening from your words, it seems like you don't believe this. I ask you to dispel any foolish thoughts that could be dishonestly saying that you are lesser than me."

…

"I will ask you this because I know how much important it's for you compared to Speedwagon," I prepared to deliver my final query, the very evidence that will seal the deal with this important element to my operations. "Hannah… will you be my friend?"

I waited, quietly gauging her silence as I waited for an answer and…

One of her hands trailed up to her face, her palm trying to hide some tears already falling off her cheeks and I felt tensing up for any unneeded situation that could be happening from that very sight.

She sobbed, her other hand reaching for her lips, but failing to contain the crying noises as I continued to stare at the scene with careful silence.

"L-Lord Dio… I- Why are you- Why are you so kind!" She bawled, her sobbing increasing and my surprise intensifying at the route this conversation was taking right before my eyes.

I hadn't expected this level of… shock from the young woman.

I had suspected that she had been deeming herself worthless because of society standards. Not because she was a woman, but because of the situation that saw her living in a brothel.

She was seen as a simple tool for pleasure, nothing more.

Perhaps I should've addressed this very issue early on but… I sighed, standing up from my chair and walking right in front of the girl.

Hannah paused for a moment, noticing me as I slowly opened my arms to her.

She sniffled, her mind trying to fight back a little the urge to comply to my implicit request… but she was soon rushing for the hug, grasping tightly while she cried even harder than before.

I was surprised by her strength at first, forgetting just like usual how mighty her embraces were, but I didn't lament the closeness as I started to pat her back softly.

"L-Lord Dio-"

"Dio, Hannah," I interrupted, whispering to her quietly. "I don't think I need to explain that friends don't use formal titles."

She sobbed at that remark, her hold tightening even more much to my immense sighing.

I waited for some time, letting her get everything out. The sorrow, the pain… all that has been bottled up until now.

Then I noticed that five minutes had passed… just like that.

"Since I've some more time before I return back home, how about I start giving you some lessons about reading?" I inquired softly, drawing her attention quite suddenly. "I think it would be proper to finally offer you the chance of writing and reading, wouldn't want you to stay so clueless for so long."

She snorted quietly. "I-It would be nice."

"I'm glad then," I caressed her upper back. "And Hannah?"

… "Yes?"

I sighed. "That hand should go a little above where it is now."

Her face heated up a little, but I felt the palm moving away from my lower back. "Good."

Once we were done with that embrace, I would actually spend some time to rigorously start her with some lessons about writing and reading.

There was determination from her part, and I wasn't going to offer anything meek out of my knowledge of the English grammar.

Much to my genuine relief she was old enough to be able to grasp the first few lessons easily and we smoothly dealt with some simple rules about writing. Reading was easier, especially with how many complicated words she had heard and how easily she was able to associate those with the tags I had presented to her.

But much to our mutual sadness, I was on a very stingy curfew and I found myself offering to her some homework to do before I started making my way back to the carriage directed back home.

She was waving, a bright smile on her face but even Speedwagon noticed that there was a change on her expression.

It wasn't too forceful, it was a genuine sense of happiness that was there for everyone to see on her beautiful features.

_**And while I, Dio, prepared to face quite an unexpected battle with a presumed werewolf, I couldn't help but wonder how much this new development will change my relation with the young woman.**_

* * *

**AN**

**Dio, mah boy, we need to talk about seriously avoiding to make any passionate discussions with pretty ladies while trying to avoid any misunderstandings. Because you know… there is no way that she is going to let you go now.**

**P.S. I've seen some people melting down on the FFN page of Crawl like a Worm, and I've to say that I'm quite disappointed by the fact that some have just ignored the last line in that chapter about the situation going on there.**

**Why is this important in the context of Absolute Divinity?**** Well, Dio (a future version of our protagonist) has been 'ordered' to warn the protagonist of that story to be warned since things will be happening… in a mega xover new story that will happen in several months from now. He is staying there the second half of the latest chapter and the first half of the next one… before going back home.**

**Be warned that I literally wrote (or will write) these parts so that no spoilers for what I've planned for this story are mentioned. ****Dio's Stand is barely mentioned in fact.**

**Will this happen in this story too?**** Only at the very end. And I mean at the very epilogue so… yes, this mega xover story will not happen for a very long time.**

**...Stop! OMAKE-TIME!**

* * *

**Omake 6: Till you breathe again (1?)**

* * *

I coughed a little, droplets of blood falling off the edge of my lips as I scrambled around my desk to try and find some of the journals I had found about the Mask.

The situation was bad. No, it was horrible.

With my breathing growing erratic the more I tried to scavenge any worthwhile paper to aid me in this shocking development, I could feel the individual I had tied up in my bed finally struggling against the restraint I had applied to him.

Some chains, some mere ribbons forcing the young man to keep still in the bed while I swiftly tried to see how I was supposed to fix something like this.

**You can't.**

I gulped nervously while trying to find any notes, any memories, that would've been able to help me in this dreadful predicament.

I should've acted before this had happened. I should've made that blasted mask disappear when I had the first chance.

And yet I hadn't, my foolish past self having ignored the troublesome danger until it was too late.

I should've expected for something unusual to happen, but I had been shocked by the magnitude of the calamity I was facing alone.

I glared at the stone mask, now active and still dripping some of the leftover blood that had remained by its claws.

Jonathan's blood.

With my heartbeat growing frantic, I spared a quick glance behind to check on my current time limit.

Jojo was struggling like a madman. The restrains were barely enough to keep him stuck and I was glad that 'newborn' vampires just hadn't the same strength as Dio and Straizo.

My orange eyes peered at the disheartening sight that was the corruption of the canonic hero of this series, the fall of one of the greatest gentlemen in this universe.

But while I blamed myself for this problem, I couldn't help but groan at the fact that every single plan I had developed out from my current circumstances were now happily thrown in the nearest trashbin.

Jojo becoming a vampire. It was an atrocious element that threatened everything I had been creating up until now, and there was no one to blame but myself and George.

_WHY WOULD HE KEEP THAT BLASTED THING ON SIGHT!_

I was getting angrier, my hands were shaking as I tried to elaborate a new plan of action.

Hyperventilating, my heart was drumming so loudly by my ears as I continued through that seemingly futile research.

It shouldn't have happened. I should've been this much clumsy.

I, Dio- no,_ a fool_, had failed to avoid the worst case scenario. I didn't deserve the heavens, especially when I couldn't even make sure that someone as crucial as Jonathan was out of my way for world domination.

I had messed up to a degree that just shattered any hopes of success.

And nothing in my arsenal could help with what I was dealing with.

Hamon? Killing Jonathan was my final plan if nothing else could be used to deal with this situation.

The Spin? I didn't have a clear understanding of vampiric biology, nor I knew how to exactly create blood out of water without making some experiments early on.

The struggle was unfair, but cathartic. I had missed a single contingency, and now I was going to have a hard-time trying to avoid a complete fallout.

My thoughts died down when I felt some quiet whining, and my attention snapped back by the bedside of the riotting vampire.

Danny. I had forgotten that the dog had followed us up to my room before I had the chance of closing the door.

The puppy had been with Jojo when the disaster had struck, he had been there to see his young master stumbling by the wall with mask on it, making the sharp-edged artifact cut the youth's arm just a little.

Pain was Jonathan's own flaw in that situation, the one that sealed his fate as the mask snapped right in action and took hold of his head.

The process had happened before I had the chance of intervening, as my attention was gained by the frightened dog with some of its loud barking.

I had been the closest, I had noticed what was going on, but instead of waiting some servants to rush and see what had happened to the young Joestar, I had moved quickly to bring the barely-conscious Jonathan to my room.

Tied down and rendered unable to pose a threat even more than he was right now, the vampire's continuous struggle was pushing me to actually skip many of the more time-consuming tests I could've tried out and-

_I could already hear footsteps._

The door was closed shut. I had also placed both of the chairs and some of the furniture to block entrance to anyone that had wanted to check inside my room.

Words being muttered by the hall just outside, my ears twitched as I glared again at the Mask before I finally gave my utmost attention to Jojo.

He was staring at me with a feral expression. His humanity forfeited, and none of the common anger was there to give me hopes of a different transformation than what I knew about.

I flinched, I tensed up and I took a couple of steps towards him.

The sight of an approaching prey was enough to intensify his furious actions, and I prepared to counter any assault if he ended up breaking from his bonds.

I stared at him with a mix of morbid curiosity, dread, and infinite regret over how everything had gone wrong so suddenly and unexpectedly.

I was above him, his intense glance sending chills down my spine as I pondered over the only solution remaining in this instance.

Glancing just for a moment at my right hand I had it hover over his forehead, the young man staring rabidly at it as it tried to bite it through the restraint around his lower head.

My heartbeat intensified even more, almost making me wonder if I was actually experiencing a heart attack with how intense the pain in my chest was.

I blinked as I noticed my sight panning up while I felt pushed towards the conclusive steps of what was going to be a horrible part of my new life.

I had to do it, and yet the tears weren't stopping to flow down.

Stop, I- I couldn't stop.

If I let him survive now-

**Thud!**

My sight snapped to the door, I saw the chairs groaning together with the rest of the furniture I had disposed at the door.

A familiar voice was on the other side and I felt my panic rising more and more.

George? He was already there?

I didn't expect him to arrive so soon. I had even less time than I expected!

I needed to be quick- I had to do it.

I pressed my palm by his forehead, my hand covering his brutal yellow eyes as I prepared to fry his head.

Hamon was the only way out of this madness. I had to cut the string, I had to kill Fate's former champion.

I had to break away from Dio's own limits.

…

_**But can I truly do this?**_

"D-Dio?"

I tensed up, the chains stopping with the rattling as the struggling vampire seemed to suddenly cease with its rabid activity.

I blinked. "J-Jojo?"

"I'm… I feeling odd. Bad odd," The young man muttered with an uneasy tone. "I'm hungry, Dio. I'm hungry."

I braced for any attack… but nothing came and I continued to stare at him.

"J-Jojo. Are you… are you fighting the impulse?"

He gulped nervously. "I'm… trying. It's strong. I'm tired."

"How much can you hold?"

**THUD!**

"B-Barely."

…

"A-Are you… are you helping me?"

The question put a squeeze at my chest, and I felt my eyes widening at the trust.

"I'm… I'm trying my best, Jojo."

I could only see his lips. There was a serene smile on there.

"I'm glad then… brother."

…

I… I cannot do this. I, Dio, couldn't kill Jonathan Joestar.

I'm a pathetic failure. This- This should come easy to me, and while I had no remorse in killing monsters-

**Brother.**

I just couldn't bring myself to end my young sibling.

I removed my palm from his forehead silently moving to the desk to take hold of the mask.

Another glare, this one even briefer than the last one. Then I stared at Jonathan and...

I made my decision.

**When George Joestar finally managed to breach into Dio's room, to try and understand what had happened by the entrance of his mansion and why his servants had found fresh blood staining the floor, the poor man would only find an empty place with a strong gust of cold wind coming from… the now broken window.**

_**I, Dio, continued to move as quickly as possible through the muddy road with a sleeping vampire wearing a big coat over his body on my back and a troublesome mask busying my hands. My destination? I needed to reach the warehouse. I needed to make newer plans.**_

* * *

**AN**

**This omake is born after reading the full fan-manga called 'Till We Eternally Rest'. Truly a tragic take over the 'What if Jonathan was the one to become a vampire?' spin.**

**If this is continued it would be 5 chapters, each spread out to make reference to the arcs planned for this story.**

**REVIEW Q&A!**

**DarklordUA1323****: ErinaXJojo is a big YES!**


	11. Giovinezza (11)

**DISCLAIMER**

**The following is a fan-based**

**FICTION**

**All Parts of the JJBA are all owned by Hirohiko Araki. **

**Please Support the Official Release!**

* * *

**Capitolo Primo: Giovinezza (11)**

* * *

The pale half-moon was up in the sky, shining brightly as the group concluded the last tasks of the ambush.

The area picked was one set right by the entrance of town, just enough to make it 'logical' for some fruit stands to be around. The food had been prepared with utmost caution, enough to not be taken as a hint for any suspicious activity aloof.

Whatever the creature was a werewolf or not, I still decided to take precautions to avoid any unexpected development as I knew that the monster had to still be strong and fast enough to avoid the previous capture attempts prepared by the local police force.

The only thing that I wasn't truly certain about was succeeding at the first try. The beast could easily decide that tonight wasn't just going to be a good day to visit, its limited mind certainly sensing trouble at striking so frequently with this much vehemence.

But while I really wanted to close my eyes even for just a moment, I knew that I couldn't just afford this kind of luxury. I had to stay awake, to offer my utmost best to avoid the failure of this delicate mission.

One of the keys of success in many situations was patient, and stupidly whine about the lack of action in the first two hours of watch wouldn't just do well for the morale of the rest of the group. Everyone was waiting patiently, silently. They knew that the creature was going to come soon, and they needed to be prepared to act as one to avoid any casualties in the process.

The long spears that were bladed with silver had been carefully hidden to avoid any reflection from those from alerting the monster in case it decided to come. Speedwagon had taken a seat beside mine, keeping a clear eyesight over his trusted companions which had been put to command the various sections of the little army.

I could see some tension in the fellow blond's expression. His eyes showing some nervousness at the mere thought of the kind of monstrosity that was supposed to strike anytime now. The man had seen some crazy stuff happening in the capital, with Ogre Street being main location for most of the worst cases within the nation. But this was the first time he was supposed to face someone this… threatening.

A single bite from a werewolf would've been enough to turn a mere human in another monster. Thus death wasn't truly the ugliest scenario available for those taking part in this skirmish.

Midnight had struck sometime ago now, and none of the usual daylight inhabitants had lingered as long as normally, presumably frightened by the prospect of any encounters with the creature that had reportedly attacked the area various times.

There was silence. But the unnerving quietness was doing the opposite than attract peacefulness to the hears and minds of those standing by their hideouts. I was tapping my fingers by my arm, orange eyes staring without distractions at what was supposedly to become a dangerous battlefield.

I stared hardly, and very tensely as I noticed something move quietly through the 'empty' square. The figure was short, with a tiny frame, but I could see the face and hair.

A little girl, her light-brown hair ran down a little below her shoulders. Her petite face was displaying some uneasiness, and from the rags she was using as clothes, it was a certainty within my mind that I was looking at some silly orphan that had taken notice of the free food and was making a break for the little stand filled with the fruits.

She looked to be not much older than seven.

"Dio-" Speedwagon had noticed the child too, glancing me with a panicked look, but I was already standing up from my chair.

"I will take care of this," I assured calmly, making my way down the little roof which we had been using as I slowly wandered downstairs and toward where the girl was happily trying to get as many apples as she could get.

I stopped behind her, a sigh pending by my lips as I prepared to interact with her.

"It's quite late, isn't it?"

The sudden query interrupted the little orphan in her activity, the girl freezing up and almost dropping the apples. I waited for a couple of moment, enough for the child to recover from my unexpected presence.

Slowly turning around, her brown eyes stared up at my own orbs, a surprised glint held within her chocolate pools. More silence, I knew that talking now that she was this nervous would've only made her panic.

While on a normal instance that would've been alright, I had slowly come to understand that this wasn't a mere orphan. Despite the fact her clothes were made by rags at best, her hair and skin looked hardly influenced by the grime and dust within the dirty streets of the rookeries.

Something about her was… off.

"The moon is up, people are sleeping," I finally muttered once I was sure her tension had lessened to an acceptable level. "And the fruits of this stand are for free."

She blinked, surprise swelling within her mind and face as she seemed slightly relieved by the confirmation. Yet, instead of merely nodding this off, she decided to frown.

"But why?"

Her quiet voice gained a curious look from me as I quietly reached around the stand and settled by the lone chair behind the table.

"My stand. My world," I replied with a hint of amusement. "I suppose that… I just want to offer help more than sell simple things."

Another blink, this time her surprise fully turned in curiosity. Curiosity which I would need to keep up this necessary conversation.

"But… isn't that silly?"

I cracked a small smile. "I suppose it can be seen like that. But I'm just someone that wishes to… bring happiness to people."

Awe appeared on her features, endearing the girl even more to take part in that unexpected discussion.

"That sounds like a nice thing," She blurted out happily, her smile blossoming within her face.

"I'm glad to hear that," I replied with a nod, then I blinked, faking a forgetful expression as I prepared to finally introduce myself. "Before I forget it… my name is Dio, Dio Brando."

She nodded. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Brando."

I almost flinched at the use of the last name. Perhaps I should really switch it instead of keeping it, especially with how distasteful it felt to even think about it. The name Brando was… just a synonym of horrible things happening all at once.

"Please, do call me Dio," I returned with the same politeness, drawing a surprised look from the child. "I'm not that old. And I would prefer to be called by my first name."

Another nod, then her eyes lit up at the fact that she had yet to introduce herself.

Looking quietly shyly, she huffed. "I'm- I'm Sarah."

I offered a bigger smile. "Nice to meet you, Sarah."

She giggled, her entire nervousness fading as she was left with even more curiosity at the 'endearing figure' I was presenting myself like.

"You know, it's pretty late," I muttered again. "And… I know it might sound a little bit strange to ask, but is there any reason why you're still up, pretty girl?"

Her cheeks reddened a little at the compliment, and the embarrassed girl smiled even more at that, seemingly ignoring the 'big question' I had given her.

"I'm… I was just a little bit hungry," She confessed without hesitation, making me frown at her genuine tone. "It's been a while since I've tried apples."

"Then do give it a bite," I replied kindly, the girl quickly complying and taking a tiny bite out of the delicious-looking fruit. She munched on it a little, her smile growing happier as she enjoyed the food.

"It's so good~."

I almost chuckled at her cute reaction, but restrained myself as I needed to offer the least of noises as of now. I was dealing with a theory. A theory that could easily prove wrong and bring an innocent in the crossfire if my suspicions ends up failing to match up with the truth.

I needed to be careful, but I was making some good progress with this effort.

"I suppose it has to be tough. To be living in the streets," I commented quietly, drawing a nod from the girl.

"It's… not nice- but I got someone that cares for me a lot," The child replied slowly, still enjoying her apple.

I blinked. "It's good to never be alone, right?" I inquired back.

Another nod, this one with more eagerness. "My big brother is always there for me? He is my hero!"

I sighed at that response, feeling some perplexity rise up at the mention of this older sibling.

"Truly? I bet he has to be strong."

"He's super-strong!" Sarah agreed and reinforced. "He is fast, he's nice and..."

She stopped, her sight dropping to the wooden table and with it her happy mood.

I gave her a concerned look. "Is something wrong with your big brother?"

The girl looked up, a surprisingly-serious tone on her face. An unexpected change from her previous giddy self.

"He's… he has been feeling sick," She admitted with some uneasiness. "He is… not at home when it's nighttime and, and I think he got meaner too."

…

Oh no.

I blinked, trying to hide the little realization from flashing through my face as I slowly came to understand the identity of the possible monster attacking this area at night. I felt ready to press for a little more, to inquire about any distinctive details of this sibling but-

My body tensed up as I felt something jump right above me through the roof of the building behind me. A lessened growl, it was just enough to get me moving as I pushed Hamon through my legs and quickened my pace.

Sliding through the table, I didn't waste time nor words in lifting Sarah in my hold, dodging just in time the descending assault of the dark-furred fiend snarling at the table.

The girl eeped in surprise, her entire body shivering both at the suddenness of my action and the appearance of such a scary creature.

"Don't worry, Sarah," I guaranteed with a serious voice. "For I, Dio, shall protect you."

Just as I pronounced these words, the four-legged creature sported its canine teeth before reeling a little bit to let out a challenging howl.

Now, that was the signal that was needed to trigger the arrival of support. In mere moments, numerous men flocked through the streets, all armed with their lances and prepared to rush to my aid.

Despite the quick presence of my little army, my worries about the werewolf were far from waning as the beast approached me. While it looked incredibly unnerved by so many people rushing towards us, the creature was staring at me intensely… and the reason for this attention was the child in my arms.

Gritting my teeth, I backed away to quickly dodge a sudden rush from the monster. Red eyes keeping track of my actions as the swift creature kept up with my pace… which was troublesome considering that I was supposed to fight it with my arms busied by Sarah.

I backed away one last time, deciding to finally focus my entire attention on the main threat. Once we had gained plenty of distance from the werewolf, I carefully dropped Sarah off my hold, the girl staring at me.

"I need you to run away from here, Sarah. Get to a safer place."

I was curt with my order, enough to make her take a few steps away already as I turned my sight back on the approaching beast. It lunged forward, trying to pounce at me with its maws open and ready to take a bite at me.

But just as it seemed so close to reach out for my shoulder- _I vanished in thin air_.

Surprise painted its ugly mug, but soon that very surprise turned into fear as something bright rushed towards him.

The impact was decisive and I roared as I pushed him away with my standard Overdrive. The attack was one of the basic ones, which meant that it was quick to muster up and use in a stressful situation like this one. I recoiled my fist, reducing the hamon pumping into the punch as I stared at the recovering fiend.

It whined, a mix of pain and anger as it slowly got up and rushed at me. I could see a slight difference in it's dark fur- the color having grown lighter than before. Now it looked like a dark shade of brown.

My hamon was fighting back the effects of the spell that had cursed him like this. I needed to act before my own men got too close and killed the possible innocent under that transformation.

The armed men were approaching fairly quickly, Speedwagon having left our little hideout to order around the formations to slowly encroach on our position. A little window of opportunity to avoid a tragedy.

It stood up, staring at me with incredible hatred, then it rushed with the same speed as before. My reaction time was at peak despite my sleep-deprivation, with the Ripple itself soothing the effects of my tiredness down to nothing.

I stood my ground firmly, cocking both of my fists for something quick and hasty. I could feel the Hamon surging in preparation for something that was surely going to bring the creature down and save the poor guy.

It lunged again, its maws trying to slowly open to prepare for another attempt at biting me up. I didn't flinch, nor falter as I delivered another overdrive… this one being far stronger than the one before.

A barrage of punches, I felt close to achieve the same galore only a Close-Range Stand would achieve as I pummeled the wolf into stillness.

"**Sunlight Yellow Overdrive!**"

Its skin was tough, but I could see the hamon crackling against the curse, destroying it piece by piece.

The moment turned in a couple of seconds, then in two full minutes.

I stopped out of tiredness, staring at the creature slowly morphing back to a more humanoid form, the original owner of that body. A boy around my age, he was naked as no clothes had survived the previous transformation. He had a slightly tanned skin, and his hair reached down by his lower back.

He looked quite… wild with that 'haircut', yet my musing wasn't just going to be allowed to continue as little Sarah decided to intervene now. With the young man now barely conscious, she rushed for a high-speed bear-hug, trying to talk with her brother while also pleading at the approaching men to stop.

She was afraid, enough to make me ease up my guard and gesture at my workers to stop. Some looked surprised, but Speedwagon's loud voice seemed to draw them to comply as I slowly approached the two siblings.

I expected the barely-conscious guy to be incapable of going through a discussion, and I was so certain that the fight had been concluded like this, without much of a dangerous threat poised from the werewolf.

My training had made me so… over-prepared. Not only that, but I had so many contingencies planned for any sudden surprises that I could feel the need of be calm before such a singular scene.

Yet, while I made a few steps towards them, I noticed something strange with the older sibling, as his red eyes were open and staring intensely at his sister. It didn't look neither a loving glance nor a worried one.

It was intense, it was raw… it was hunger.

I panicked, running as I saw his hand suddenly lifting up and showing… that it was still a dark-furred claw. The curse hadn't been defeated completely.

It was a swift action. I saw the claws fall towards the unsuspecting child, with the brunette clinging protectively with her brother as I tried and failed to warn her of the danger.

I felt my… my existence questioned. I had just gloated, and I felt successful so easily and without any confirmation. I should've been careful- No, I can't just surrender like this.

Up until now I had been able to achieve the impossible. I had learned the basics of the Spin, I was learning how to make use of Hamon, and I had started to make progress in the elimination of the threats that were Jack the Ripper and Wang Chan.

I was so close to achieve a complete victory, a bloodless one. I was so close and… I had to intervene quickly.

The spin wouldn't taken too much time, and even the Zoom Punch was out of question with how long the distance was right now, just a little less than two meters. I wasn't risking any chances of hitting Sarah with how faulty my aim with the Bubble Launcher was and… I was out of practical options about long-ranged means to stop the killing from happening.

Something. Something had to happen.

It had to happen. I wanted it to happen. I demanded it! I REFUSED TO ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN!

_**I will not tolerate a world that doesn't bend to wishes! I will conquer it, turn it and make it mine!**_

In that furious mindset, I could feel something of a burden… snapping out from my back. I felt lighter, as something semi-transparent soared towards the inbound claw and… smacked it away, almost breaking the dark-haired boy's arm.

It was surprising and I noticed that even the pseudo-werewolf had noticed something off about it.

His red eyes widened in shock, just a moment before his consciousness slipped away and he crumbled towards his sister. The hit had defeated the last ditch effort of the curse.

I stopped, shock filling my stare as my mind was frozen and forced to repeat in a loop what I had heard while the _punch _had made contact.

'_**Wryyy~!**_'

There was no doubt about it. Yet my mind just failed to accept the evident scene just happening in front of me.

**_I, Dio, had somehow tapped into my own Stand._**

* * *

My hasty return to the Joestar Manor ended the interesting night that saw so many new variables enter the large game of hearts and minds that I was a player to.

Speedwagon had voiced his reluctance in bringing both Sarah and her brother back to the main headquarters, but he had complied as I had offered him some guarantees over the boy. He knew that the little brunette was harmless, and that the only real issue was the chance of the young man turning in a furred machine of doom right on their 'home'.

With this little situation wrapped up in the safest way possible, and with the other men being sworn up to not mention anything about the situation that had happened that very night, I found myself dealing with the fact that I had pull a successful all-nighter and… I wasn't feeling any of that.

I knew that the Hamon was known to heal and help with any soreness, but to see it act to heal my state of sleep-deprivation? Now I had a reason to consider avoiding coffee altogether. The fact that it was also the main tool that allowed me to make my way back to the house without risking the chance of getting caught.

To be fair, I had planned hours earlier the whole 'Spider-man' skit to get back in my room by the wall and through the still-open window, but this was the first time I climbed up a solid surface that wasn't a simple tree.

Truly a fun experience, one that was mostly ruined by some thoughts over the impending death below me if I failed to keep up the proper Hamon input with my hands and feet. Once I was back inside the building, I proceeded to close the window and lie down on the bed.

I had so much to ponder about. So much to think over… why did I get an infuriating 'teaser' for my Stand?!

I was slightly irked by the fact that I, Dio, had managed to pull just a fraction of my Stand out and I can't yet bring it up again. It had been the rush of the moment, the adrenaline and the willpower mustered in that specific deadly situation.

It had been so… majestic, but also so teasing. It had been like receiving a caress and then being slapped without an apparent reason.

Yet the bad part didn't come any closer to the kind of confusion I had over the 'bizarre bit' of that development. I was still failing to make theories over why my Stand hadn't gone with 'Muda', but with 'Wryyy'.

It didn't make any sense. I knew within myself that **｢****The World****｣** was still going to be mine. There was no reason to doubt it as I _**felt **_it. And yet the battlecry didn't match with the one that the bulky humanoid would usually make during the use of its infamous punch barrage.

W-Was it because I preferred Wryyying to Mudaing? Is there something wrong with me? Maybe I should step up my Dio game?

The torturous trail of thoughts persisted for two whole hours… enough to get me to stand up to the bed and go to enjoy some proper breakfast.

I was still having some trouble digesting the fact that I had skipped my usual few hours of rest and I wasn't feeling any of that, but with my mind still driven crazy by the fact that I had a glimpse over my future Stand… I really wasn't paying attention to the miraculous effects of the Ripple.

At least, not right now.

I greeted a couple of servants along the way as I reached for the dining room.

George was distracted by some newspaper, while Jonathan smiled and greeted me with a nod, which I returned without hesitation.

I took my usual seat, humming quietly as I scanned carefully what had been prepared for breakfast. Waffles would surely do well with my depressed state of mind.

Just as I started to munch at my first prey, my attention slowly turned at the newspaper that had distracted the older Joestar from greeting me. A couple of the titles there gaining my interest almost instantly.

'**A breath of air? The monster misses his date'**

Seems like the media had noticed that the yesterday had been a 'quiet night'. While I had some doubts about everyone working under me keeping that a secret, it would seem that Speedwagon's persuasion and capacity to bribe the more reluctant members had worked wonders.

I almost nodded at this development, feeling glad that there wasn't any unexpected backlash coming from that fight's aftermath. Yet my eyes didn't fail to notice the umpteenth title dedicated to the newest victim of 'Jack the Ripper'.

Once again the unfortunate guy that had stepped right into Jack's path had been given a blond-like color to his hair and… there were some different engraved words on his torso.

**Shine Brighter.**

Truly an unnerving sight. I could feel my blood boil at this obsession the man had over me. I should intensify my efforts to try and hunt down the bastard now that he had left anonymity again to resume with his spree.

Maybe that would be the perfect next step now that I had most of the stability in my turf assured, with only a couple of minor issues left to deal with.

Returning my attention to my share of the breakfast, I finally saw George folding down the paper and take notice of my presence. He seemed genuinely surprised when he saw me already seated and eating.

"Oh Dio, I hadn't- I forgot to greet you-"

"It's alright, Lord Joestar," I interrupted politely, showing a small understanding smile. "I suppose there has been quite the situation with the recent events."

The lone father nodded, easing at my reassuring words. "These last few days had been quite difficult to handle. But I think I got mostly everything under control."

He leaned a little on his chair, turning his sight to his waiting waffle. Soon, he took a moment to enjoy one of the three pieces on his plate.

"Dad," Jonathan muttered with some giddiness, almost instantly gaining my interest as the man sighed and smiled at his son's enthusiasm.

"I almost forgot this too," The man mused with a tired sigh. "But JoJo just received a letter confirming his apprenticeship with a well-known teacher for History. He has expressed some wishes to become an archaeologist and I'm sure that knowledge will come handy in administering the family business."

I nodded, smiling proudly at the happy-looking young man before returning my attention back to George, as I realized that he wasn't done yet.

"And since my son has been finally accepted by a teacher, I decided that it was best to try a different approach with you," The nobleman continued with a serious tone. "Which is… I want you to pick the professor you think would best benefit you."

…

He was joking- there was no way that he was actually offering me, a fourteen years old teen, the chance of picking his 'favorite teacher' out of the roster of people available in this era.

There were plenty of people that I wanted to know, but the list of those that I actually wished to become an apprentice to was incredibly shorter than the previous one.

Good people, bad people, influential people… crazy people. There were so many of those and just a couple actually worth of considering for as proper mentors for me to ask about.

It was seriously going to be one of the toughest choices possible considering it had to do with my main cover. Any teacher that was distant from London was surely going to urge me to either come and visit out of the region, or even adopt some unpleasant times to give lessons for the sake of keeping up with other responsibilities.

I frowned at this little leeway I was offered. "Can I have some time to… ponder over this decision? I'm currently unprepared to afford a name."

"You may take some weeks to decide. But I wish to remind you that you will need to continue with your education," George replied kindly, just a hint of stern joining his complex. "Both you and Jonathan have displayed a prowess with your studies that I don't wish to see wasted. Jojo has already settled with this specific teacher, and now it's your turn to do the same."

I nodded. "I shall consider this situation with the utmost importance and seriousness, Lord Joestar."

He seemed pleased with the answer and soon breakfast resumed with a pleasant silence which I was quick to paint with my thoughts.

This new situation was kind of annoying. While I was glad to have been offered the chance of actually choosing the one that I will ask to become my mentor, I sure hadn't made any plans about pursuing a serious education-related career with the kind of plans and schedules I had in mind for the distant future.

I had my mind set in a precise path of success, one that had a general line that I wasn't going to stray from for any silly reasons. It was going to be a tough road, but one with good rewards and a promise of world-wide dominance.

With breakfast coming to an end, I expected for the rest of the day to be a 'simple one' to my usual weekly schedule. I had some plans, but nothing too big considering the recent issue that I had been forced to deal with.

Now I had two more possible recruits to confirm. People that would require attention, charisma, and, most of it all, actions to prove my good intentions.

It wasn't going to be an easy task, but I certainly wasn't going to stray away from it now that I had the capacity to make some huge steps around. That and… maybe I could use the 'teacher card' to start thinking about the chances of going as far as starting to influence London's politics with some careful manipulation.

I wanted to grin, to cackle, to Wryyy- but then I was reminded of something that I had been ignoring for days now and that required some of my attention to be finished.

The translation was mostly over, I was close to understand the true origins of the protagonist and the 'antagonist' of the Prophecy of the Sagittarius. I would know about his identity and… confirm some strong suspicions that I had been harboring since I stopped translating at the last ten pages.

I wondered if it would end up being 'him', or if this was just a silly theory of mine that lacked any logical basis.

But then this is Jojo, and things were meant to be logically bizarre from time to time.

_**So, while I, Dio, hummed quietly as I made my way back to my own room, I failed to notice that a certain Stone Mask was no longer fixed by the wall were George had left it.**_

* * *

**AN**

**...Not much to say.**

**Actually, there is something! I did start a story about Worm (Web Serial) called 'Metempsychosis'. Expects lot of crazy stuff for Taylor.**

**...**

**...Wryyy?**

* * *

**Omake 7: Life is a silly thing**

**Original Idea from: Guest 4 from Giovinezza (8)**

* * *

_**~From Hannah's Perspective~**_

The silence of one will always be taken as a tacit consent.

I can remember hearing these strange words from one of the women that tried to dote on me as I was slowly coaxed into accepting the unfairness of the situation. It was kind of saddening how my presence back to that squalid place wasn't something that could be correlated from a person in particular, but to a variety of issues converging to the breaking point.

The fact that I was 'adopted' by Madame Lovely stemmed from numerous events within my early life. Some being carefully greeted with a smile, while some were met with scorn and scowls.

Life can be cruel, but to some it was the worst possible.

The smell of the brothel was unforgettable. I could remember my nostrils flaring in disgust the first time I entered that simple building.

I was hopeful at first when I first saw it in the distance. I thought that it was one of those mansions that were used by noblemen and noblewomen as their own homes.

From the horror of poverty, to the brilliance of the elite. It was idyllic back then, my mind failing to contain the joy rising from within my features as I followed the old woman that was Madame Lovely.

A nice lady, I could remember her like one of those 'grandmothers' that were mentioned by many of the children I had met in the last few years as source of wisdom, of refined kindness.

Madame Lovely resembled all of that, she had this sweet tone and simple manners that were just endearing to anyone that didn't know much about her true self.

It was the perfect lure for silly girls that were so desperate for warmth, for food, for shelter.

The beautiful dream born with a sight, and then alive for a couple of steps, shattered right as I realized what was truly happening within the place.

It had stung, painfully so, but never enough to match the stinging sensation of a strong slap from the 'kind lady'.

The Madame was kind to those who complied, but quickly proved to be stern and unforgiving when the first note of her protests reached her mind.

The ground was cold, but not as cold as the 'sleeping section' of the brothel was.

Nights spent trying to understand why God was being so unforgiving had been with only silence.

Did that mean that God agreed to me? Or perhaps the Lord Almighty cared little about the weak, and absently bestowed immunity to those that committed the heinous deed?

The shock had waned just a week after being taken in, and much of this time was spent 'learning' more about the 'grand work' I was now supposed to be part of.

It was all in the name of pleasure, all in the name of satisfaction. But both far from the subjective sense of these words, and more related to those that brought coin to the establishment.

I wasn't smart there, and maybe I'm still far from properly understand the nature of that dark aspect within society, but I was perfectly aware that there was a heinous distaste in being forced into that role.

Visions of women 'happily' offering themselves to old man, people that were rich, that still wanted more and beyond the limits of a wedlock.

The horror of daily sessions that ended up with my mind trying and failing to grasp the fact that it would've eventually been my turn for that kind of disgusting actions.

Sure, thieving my way for survival had destroyed any semblance of normal morality within my soul, yet my inner purity had persisted through the despicable deeds I had to go through for the sake of staying alive in these trying times.

Hannah. That was the only certainty that had driven me through the worst of instances I was subjected to.

I hadn't expected for some stable life. I had wanted to be cuddled away from the pain.

But it would've been just alright to have another certainty other than just a name.

A guarantee that my tomorrow wasn't going to end up with my unfortunate passing.

Everything was possible, and being 'taken' in a brothel was perhaps the least problematic for a fair amount of reasons.

But my meager pride had simply refused to accept the unwanted cards. A refusal that was rekindled for numerous days.

With weeks turning into months, worry became a stable guest within my mind.

It was during an effort to be granted some relief away from that horrible situation, knowing that it was now a matter of days before the true commitment of my stay in the brothel was finally imposed upon me.

I needed to breathe, away from the disgusting scent of deplorable men.

The nearby park had sounded like a perfect idea. Then I had realized that the current state of my clothes wouldn't just do to avoid any attention from people.

While I was glad that she had been given something else to the tattered robes I had been using for several years now, the skimpy nature of my new style hardly matched with the normalcy I was just seeking.

Thus I rushed away from the entrance, away from any clear sights and deep in that peaceful place domineered by nature.

A stubborn attempt to resist to the gritty reality of London, where nature thrived against the advance of the city's society.

Wandering around in utter and complete silence, I finally took a moment to rest away from the main routes.

Loneliness was quick to receive me through my implicit yearning. I was distracted, so blissfully immersed in that bountiful peace that just was as endless as it was kind.

And in that unawareness… I was touched by Death.

Maybe it was wrong to consider someone as foul as Jack as something connected to the Ultimate Demise, and yet the sight of a lanky figure with a horrid knife standing in the shadows was enough to give me shivers.

The shadows dreadfully and masterfully hid his face, making it seem to my eyes that I wasn't staring at a lone individual.

It was the world deeming her finished. I wasn't needed to live any longer.

There had been no chance to avoid it. The situation had happened so suddenly and so furiously that I almost failed to notice the blood drawn by the swift murderer.

No hope painted me a way out from that case. I was frozen, I was done, and despite my best efforts to not show any emotions… I couldn't help but show some absurd gratefulness.

Death sounded like mercy. It sounded so natural and so undeniable.

It was there, and I knew that the alternative would've been to try and survive a horrible life.

Bad life or swift death?

So many thoughts, most of those transcending within the malicious reasoning of the life here in the capital.

…

Then He had arrived.

At first I thought him to be one mere child that had gotten lost. Someone that was going to follow my same road to the afterlife.

Instead I was proven wrong… but with a pleasant surprise too.

The young man had blond hair, his eyes were a vibrant orange that was all directed to the malicious killer.

There had been some minor fear, but it was a speck of dust compared to the scene that ensured.

Lord Dio spoke with incredibly bravery and cold logic. There was no attempt in my mind to deny it, especially when 'Death' was stripped of its clothes and names.

Jack lost his anonymity, and he was finally exposed out of the shadows that had shrouded his identity.

The inevitable had sounded so different, and so fake.

The exchange that had then ensued further proved that Dio was beyond the simple.

Mere words drove the criminal away from the scene, the threatening and absolute tone of the blond's voice tearing apart the resolve of the mad man to continue with his attempted kill.

And with Jack being sent away, I was left alone to Him.

Lord Dio was serious, mature, wise and… kind.

The kindness that sounded so close to what I had felt while around Madame Lovely, and yet this beautiful emotion was then associated with a genuine act of help.

Her wounds were fixed through the use of something beyond human.

Magic, I had thought back then in an awed stare. The power to bend and mold the world at the will of some.

It was absurd, yet it happened.

Dio had used this immense ability to heal me, giving me importance through that simple act of altruism.

There was no reward behind that deed, but only for him to be glad with her good health and safety away from danger.

With my heart quivering at the warm note of the odd encounter, the world seemed to become so easy after that situation.

There was bad, but there was also good.

I had seen the worst and now, in the lowest point of my life, I was granted the luxury of being cared for.

The warmth survived as I was brought back to the brothel, yet my dreamy self was snapped back to reality when Madame Lovely decided that it was 'time for me to shine'.

I merely blinked as I found myself thrown into one of the 'service room' and left to wait for my first client.

Archibald Curzon was an old gentleman with an unpleasant neutral stare permanently fixed on his face.

A former captain during the English campaign in Crimea, he had retired when things were getting unhappy with his already-unruly behavior.

Curt and rude, he merely muttered a word as he started to unfasten his belt.

"Strip."

A simple order, devoid of emotion or interest to whom he was talking to.

…

I could feel my anger rising at the sight. It was the breaking point and… I had to do something strong to make myself stand up before the unfairness.

My mind skimmed over the various thoughts that could've helped my in that moment and-

I remembered Lord Dio's power. When he first injured Jack, and when he used it to heal me.

Could I do it?

I can remember thinking this in a fit of nervousness, of panic.

Thinking back about how the young man had accomplished that powerful spell, she reached for anything that could be used as… spheres.

It had to be spherical.

My ears itched at the noise of the belt having some trouble to get removed, reminding me that I had little time to truly act.

I moved quickly through the nearby furniture to find anything… a wooden ball.

I stared at it for a while… and then started to swirl it in my hands.

It had to rotate, it had to spin and-

…

My eyes widened mere seconds later as I saw the pretty light appear in my palms.

It shone so beautifully, so unrestrained. It was untamed, and it wanted to already act on my command.

A smile twitched on my face, it had been so empowering when I turned around with the spinning sphere, letting it trail up to my fingertips and-

Archibald Curzon just had some seconds to notice that something was wrong before the spinning wooden ball slammed on his belly and pushed him on the wall.

The impact was devastating, and the wood shards that exploded there proved to be fatal for the unfaithful elder.

The loud noise also proved to be enough to garner most of the brothel's occupants.

Numerous women and confused clients rushed to the hallways that led to the room, but only one mustered enough courage to open the door.

It was Madame Lovely and… she didn't seem to reflect her namesake with the ugly expression ruining her grandmotherly complex.

"What have you-!" The old woman stopped, her eyes widening in shock and fright as she spotted the dying corpse of the client. "Y-You-"

I knew that I had to act as I couldn't allow the old lady to recover from the fright. It was now or never!

"I will take my permanent leave from this disgusting place." My voice didn't tremble, and all of the frustration broke the dam of nervousness that had kept me quiet up until now. "And you shall never mess with me, insufferable hag!"

Panic swelled in the Madame, the shock and the panic- all stressing her in a state of silence.

Enough to allow me to leave, but not quickly enough to miss the woman crumbling down on the floor because of that deadly standoff.

From there… things would become awkward, insane and…

Then I found Dio again!

He saved me, he blessed me with his acceptance, with his wisdom and…

And then the world spun around in a completely unexpected manner.

With it all coming to sanity once more when a few words were pronounced by her Lord and Savior.

"_**Hannah… will you be my friend?"**_

* * *

**AN**

**A little backstory for Hannah. I think it was long overdue and… some stuff had been left purposely unknown within the story.**

**I understand that there are some odd things about Hannah, but I've come to the conclusion that it's one of her main quirks.**

**She does stuff, and some of this stuff can't make sense in the world of logic and purpose.**

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**Byayan****: Latest chapter of 'Crawl Like a Worm' explains it.**


	12. Giovinezza (12)

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**Capitolo Primo: Giovinezza (12)**

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The werewolf boy. He was close to wake up.

It's been a full week that had gone by without much of a big issue. Except for the fact that the Stone Mask had been removed from its earlier spot.

To be fair, I wasn't the one to discover this novelty. It had been a confused George to ask around if anyone had noticed the object being taken, or perhaps if anyone had picked it for themselves at the idea it was something that needed to be thrown away.

The piece itself didn't look to be precious, so to expect someone to pick it and consider it thrash wasn't truly a wrong thought. The real issue was that with how my situation was over a certain dark magician, I wasn't putting it beyond him that Wang Chan had decided to finally employ vampires to bolster his current situation.

Magic on its own can do so much until you really need cannon fodders to throw around.

Which is why the first thing I did when Muddiburi presented himself for our regular training session and with the hopes of knowing more about the aftermath about werewolf's situation was to address this very issues. The lecture that ensued created two distinct problems that I was meant to be prepared about.

The first and maybe the worst thing was that Zeppeli was going to get contacted since he was the closest to Britain and could arrive there to 'aid' with the entire ordeal. The second and perhaps the one I was most unsure about was that even the monk's brother had been sent a letter to.

It was curious to know that the Tibetan man wasn't trying to take cheap chances at the possibility of facing a full-fledged army of vampires. The mere thought of it was enough to put me in a state of mental unease, but I wasn't certainly going to hesitate now that I knew that things were going to get spicier.

I could recognize a subtle challenge within Muddiburi's tone. He wanted me to actually try and get things done properly_ before_ the group of Hamon users arrived. Before things got to a point where keeping the Ripple a secret was going to be incredibly difficult.

Thus I had to speed up any plan I had thought up to this point so that I could start formulating new world wasn't waiting for anyone, and time was running tight on me.

But for now, plans would've to wait as I dealt with this very concern. The young werewolf, the one that had sow dread in the minds of those living by the outskirts, was now starting to wake up after days of comatose rest.

I considered the lengthy slumber to be one of the many aftereffects from the fact he was purged of any dark magics in his body, leaving his body and mind to recover from that malicious influence driving him to the point of harming people.

The little girl, Sarah, hadn't left his side during the entire time he was slumbering. She would accept food and the child was happy when I had some of my workers put a bed beside her brother's.

I would visit the headquarters as usual, stopping by to chat with the young brunette about how her day had been. Hannah was ecstatic at having someone to dote, especially with how adorable and socially-active Sarah was with people she deemed kind.

I decided to also offer her some lessons of reading, something that was aided by the fact that the former courtesan was eager to offer help and support whenever the child would find an obstacle in the way of her learning. The scenes were… highly-saccharine. The sweetness just helped making paperwork easy to digest and go through in those few days.

When I first received a message from Speedwagon that the long-haired teen had finally awakened, I decided to take the opportunity presented by the fact I had other business in London to visit and check onto the matter.

The building which housed the headquarters had long started to get a bigger crowd of people wandering around since the lessening of the situation by the outskirts.

Many trustworthy merchants that had been informed of what had actually happened (minus the fact that the werewolf was still alive) were quick to jump at the opportunity to open up deals with my group. Some saw with interest the fact I was available to offer a safe service within the capital that allowed them to purchase expensive objects at a discount.

This was a good news since it meant that money was finally flowing inside and that it was now possible to start quickening some of the more distant projects… like the 'acquisition' of new abandoned warehouses in this section of the city.

Legal papers were going to be a pain in the arse to go through, but the rewards that this action was going to were well worth the straining efforts. I was almost giddy at the prospect of having actually succeeded in creating something from little nothing, but I wasn't certainly planning to get lazier now that things were going to get more difficult.

Police, bureaucracy… rival gangs.

Speedwagon had made some progress in getting some trusted contact within the Forty Elephants, but he had yet to secure a meeting with representatives from that gang. It was a step forward, but an uncertain one at best considering the trustworthiness of this organization.

Once I was by the doorstep that led within the room assigned to the two 'siblings', I paused at the noise of something crashing down within the place. I opened the door, preparing for some altercation happening inside… only to be bestowed with quite a sight.

Speedwagon looked nervous as he stared at the growling wolf-like creature that was safely nestling a nervous-looking Sarah close to it. I recognized the beast, but differently from last time I fought it, there was no genuine note of evilness exuding from its form.

As of now, it seemed more of a feral animal than else.

I stared back at the blond, just now noticing that he was holding a plate with a full bread and two turned teacups that probably had some milk filling those… before tipping and making the content fall by the floor.

"You know, you shouldn't be afraid of where you are," I stated calmly, embracing my inner mask to hide away my current uneasiness over the standoff. "Especially when you're among friends."

My voice broke the intense growling, with the werewolf turning its attention right onto me. Feral eyes keeping contact with my frame as I took a couple of steps inside the room, but I was already staring at the unnerved Speedwagon.

"Robert, place the plate by the table and leave us alone."

He looked surprised at the quiet order, but after a few seconds of silent inquiry, I gave him a nod, gesturing him to hasten his thought process. He nodded back, complying to the request and closing the door behind himself once he was out.

I took a few more steps, making sure that I was following a simple path well away from coming too close to the bed occupied by the wolf and the child.

"That's quite a mess," I commented quietly, eyeing the stain of white left by the wasted milk. "But I guess you're not interested in breakfast… yet you should."

I was met with silence, but the posture adopted by the 'big brother' was less threatening than the one he had adopted with the older blond.

"Sleeping for a full week surely has left you debilitated. And the effects of the dark magic that had corrupted you got you weakened even more than a comatose patient," I continued to speak, glancing back at the bed. "But I'm surprised you're not growling at me."

I almost asked him why, but I let my stare play that question for him. He seemed to spot this on pretty quickly, but he hesitated to answer, feral eyes moving away in a moment of thought.

"You… you saved Sarah."

I blinked at that, feeling surprised at the fact even in his furred form he could still speak a humane tongue. Quite impressive, you never stop learning about the wonders of magic.

"From your other self."

The addition of that detail seemed to get a frown out of the wolf. It was easy to perceive that it was connected to the fact he believed himself to be the culprit of that heinous deed that was stopped before full execution.

"I… I almost-"

"Not by your own volition," I interrupted calmly, my attention switching back to the table as I stared at the bread. "Dark magic. The malicious influence that had you attack innocent people, that is to blame."

"B-But-" He seemed reluctant to accept this very explanation. "I- I felt like I was enjoying it. I- I liked it."

"Then you're severely misinterpreting the effects of that kind of magic," I chided quietly, but holding back too much edge to avoid sounding too stern with my words. "Dark Magics play on the fact that influences your mind, it twists it to enable parts of it that aren't generally meant to be your true personality. And to do that, the magic makes sure that something you would generally despise is actually 'lovely' in your mind. That it makes sense."

He looked confused at this, yet he seemed to ponder well about it as he tried to summarize it in a few words.

"It's like… mind-control?"

"On the loose sense of the term, yes. You were controlled, manipulated, by having those parts that made you malicious, that made you enjoy doing horrible things."

The wolf seemed to slowly realize what I was referring to and the more we talked, the more his form started to morph back to his human self.

I patiently waited as I saw the bare-chested young man blinking at the thoughts storming his poor mind. He just woke up and he was supposed to face quite the ordeal. I was relieved that the pants had survived the transformation as I didn't have to try and pry the girl away from a naked werewolf guy.

Still, despite the few moments of silence, I wasn't done with this interaction and I had something in mind to keep it going for a little more. Just enough to get some answers of my own out of the mystery in front of me. Turning my attention at the bread and splitting it in two perfect halves, I turned towards the two siblings and sighed.

"Which one do you want?"

Sarah looked confused at the question directed at her big brother, but I found my theory proven correct the moment I saw the tanned boy flinch at the comment. He seemed unwilling to answer to that and I sighed.

I took a bite at both halves, munching quietly and waiting as the long-haired young man kept staring at my actions. Surprise swelled behind his eyes at the action, yet he seemed to notice that I was studying his own reaction at it.

"Y-You-"

"I had suspected that you would've been against being served food by people you don't know much about," I interrupted again, feeling quite entitled by the cosmic element that was dryness to pry and interject as much as I could. "You might be resilient and quick, but poison is something that you fear."

He didn't confirm nor reply to this very suggestion, letting me finish munching what was left of the bread in my mouth. Sarah looked confused, and a little bit nervous at what I was mentioning like this… but the moment she spotted her brother easing up at my actions, she followed his example.

"Now, which one do you want?" I asked again while lifting up both halves for him to pick.

…

"Both."

I smiled. "I suppose you need all the food we can offer you now," I pointed out as I finally approached both siblings with the bread. I passed the food to the waiting hands of the brother, retreating my own palms away from him… but not backing away from the closeness.

The werewolf regarded it with some uneasiness, but he carefully started to eat the bread… before literally wolfing down the halves in mere instants. He gave me a hungry look and I blinked in surprise at the pace which saw that much food devoured.

"I will see for someone to bring more food… but I hope you can forgive me if I would like to ask you some more questions before doing so," I proposed slowly, careful enough to not make it appear like is was some interrogation. "I will have to leave soon for some important businesses and… I wish to address a few points that I wish to get cleared quickly enough."

He frowned at the request, but he seemed still calm about it. Enough to inquire back about it.

"What kind of 'points'?"

I blinked at that, deciding to ease things up by starting with something incredibly simple and light.

"Before I ask about this first thing, I wish to introduce myself," I stated before giving a small bow towards the two, making the girl smile and let out a brief giggle at my little theatrics. "My name is Dio Brando. May I know to whom I'm speaking to?"

Before saying anything about this, the young man seemed to contemplate about my name, mouthing it as to get accustomed to it. Still, after some time had passed by in the calmest of silences, he decided to address my question.

"It's a pleasure to… make your acquaintances, Dio," He started to greet back. "I'm Bhediya… and I suppose you're already acquaintance with my young sister."

I nodded, giving a small smile to the happy-looking girl. With the conflict-like atmosphere dispersing, the child seemed to have recovered from her nervous state of mind.

"I'm glad that we solved this little issue early on, Bhediya," I said while putting some efforts in not butchering that foreign name. "And I hope that you will find yourself at home during your stay here."

He nodded. "If the owner of this place is happy about it, and we're not imposing with our presence… I don't see why we should refuse this offer," The tanned boy commented, but then he showed a confused look. "By the way, can I… talk to him? I know he has to be a busy individual but-"

"He will surely agree to a meeting. In fact, please consider my words as his," I commented with a hint of smug. "Actually, do think of my presence as his."

…

While he had failed to pick up at the full trick being played, Bhediya seemed to spot on that something odd was afoot. He tilted his head to the side, intensifying his curiosity and suspicions as he finally asked about this situation.

"How much are you close to the owner of this place?" He asked bluntly and I smiled even more.

"Well, the owner and I share the same appearance, the same voice and, surprisingly enough, the same name," I finally replied with a nod. "In fact, you're speaking to him right now."

He snorted. "As if I would believe that someone as young as I am owns this-"

The little refusal was interrupted by the mere sight of me seemingly looking unfazed by this skeptical tone.

"I- you're kidding right. There's no way that-"

"Yes way, I own this place. In fact, I'm the leader of the organization owning this building," I interjected. "Sarah knows that it's true, especially since she got a glimpse at the paperwork I've to go through."

At the mere mention of the dreadful tower of ink and paper, the girl groaned and seek refuge on a hug with her brother. The boy frowned at the sight before giving me a confused look.

"I let her take a read at the paper."

…

"But- But she can't read," Bhediya mentioned with a frown.

"Yes, which is why when she saw fifteen lines of words she deemed it… what did you call the paperwork, sweetheart?"

A huff came from the brunette.

"_Boooring."_

I shook my head at the child-like voice of the truth, while the werewolf snorted in amusement at the unexpected comment.

"Still… if you're the owner then does that means that-"

"You're free to stay how much you need to," I assured calmly. "The reason that saw me accepting you both in my group wasn't one of exploitation of your talents, but rather because it was the right thing to do and I was capable of taking you both in."

…

"Can you read my mind?" The tanned boy inquired with some interest, making me sigh at the slightly-unexpected comment.

"I don't, no. It's just that I can predict how you will behave by your predatorial instincts," I answered without hesitation. "That and the fact that we both share a similar past. We both survived the streets and we both know how unfair things can be when someone kind 'suddenly' appears to tend a supportive hand."

"You don't seem to have been in the streets," He commented back, to which I gave a slow nod.

"I was blessed by luck about a month ago," I confessed, my orange eyes staring away from the two siblings as I prepared to let out a good speech to finally buy their loyalty. I knew that Sarah was now trusting of me, but the same wasn't for her brother. And that could already change now. "My father, albeit an abusive and dishonest man, had in the past 'saved' a noble and his baby, thus warranting a favor from him in case of need."

"And?"

"And I ended up discovering of this when he kicked the bucket," I continued with a nod. "Convincing the noble that I just wanted a normal life as his ward was simple and… from there, I was freed from the shackles of the street-life."

"But if you're free… then why bother? Why not-"

"Wallow in my happiness? Enjoy the cozy life that a piece of paper had granted me?" I suggested rhetorically. "It sounds idyllic, but I'm… I'm angry at the world."

…

Bhediya kept quiet and the little brunette sitting beside him listened carefully and in surprise. This was the first time I addressed why I did what I was doing here to her.

"My father was a drunkard. He lived by the moment, he despised the past and the present. But I blame society for having allowed someone like him to continue to exist and fester like a parasite up until he croaked his last breath," I ranted quietly, restraining my genuine anger at the topic. "It was a twisted society that got us honest people, those that don't deserve the brutality of the street, to suffer on a daily basis. It's unfair, I hate it."

The werewolf blinked, mesmerized by the words. "You… want to change this? Is… that why you're doing this?"

"That's correct, Bhediya. You're correct in saying that I could've easily lived away from worries. But then again, it would be so dishonest and wasteful of me to ditch my morality for a warm bed," I replied strongly. "I know that things can be changed in due time. It wouldn't take a couple of years- heck, I know that multiple decades will hardly influence the world as a whole. But I know that the world will surrender at my will, I know it. Because I, Dio, want to bring the change and I will not rest until I've truly won."

There was silence, I blamed the intensity of the speech for that. I felt nervous as now that this discussion was mostly wrapped up, I needed to prepare for the next situation I needed to be present by.

I nodded, silently walking by the doorstep and stopping there. I glanced back at the bed, with Sarah looking distracted, with her mind trying to grasp at the might of the words I had just delivered, while the werewolf tried to actually suppress the awe at understanding those.

It was alluring, to just accept the truth and my passionate craving for reform in this sad, unforgiving world. He stared back at me and I sighed before nodding again, this time at him.

"I will take my leave," I stated curtly. "I've… plenty of affairs to deal today and I will be back the day after tomorrow for some more chatting. I will be there for much longer than now and… I hope you will find it easy to approach those I've assigned to keep care of you."

Bhediya nodded slowly at the affirmations, but I wasn't done just yet.

"That means no growling at Speedwagon, Bhediya," I mentioned, drawing a snort and a frown from the long-haired boy.

_**Without further ado, I, Dio, walked out of the headquarters once I had given new dispositions to the fellow blond about handling the two siblings. Ready to take on the 'school' I've decided to approach as per George's request.**_

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The carriage came to a solid halt as we finally arrived by the middle section of Woodside, Wimbledon. The street was mostly desolate, if not for a couple of ignorant passerby that avoided approaching the part of the sidewalk which I left the carriage from.

The charioteer was given proper instructions to wait until further notice from my part, giving me the opportunity to wait a little more over the building which I was supposed to go into. Two floors, the builder hadn't been precise with the proportions as bits of the roof were dented and curving down to the left.

The place looked fairly abandoned, yet I could see lights coming from the windows. I'm still surprised that George hadn't inquired some more about where I was going to 'study' to, or else he would've forbidden me from ever approaching this part of London.

To be fair, it took me a while to remember a place that would've served both as a mean to expand my contacts and to have some info about 'bizarre' situations happening within London or even within the British Empire.

And that place turned out to be the Ghost Club, the oldest paranormal investigation and research organization in the world. It was created back in 1862 by some fellows at Trinity College, and it counted numerous important characters in British literature and governance.

The first one that would come up to my mind was already waiting by the door, patiently so. I didn't recognize him before approaching, but as soon as I got a better look from his appearance, I was quick to recognize the slimmer and younger form of one Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Yes, the famous writer that was known for his Sherlock Holmes works was part of this club, just not an active one. Actually, the group itself wasn't even meant to be 'alive' after their leading member, Charles Dickens, passed away. With my letter directed at some of the main members still working on the Club's resurrection, I managed to reanimate the group a year earlier than in the 'normal' timeline.

While the claims I had forwarded in that paper should've been regarded with strict scrutiny from the leading members of the association, the fact that these people just wanted a purpose to reconvene proved to be too much intense to actually throw away my letter at a first glance.

The man spared me a surprised look, still failing to digest how young I was, but still giving me a nod and leading me inside the large house, taking just a moment to exchange introductions and pleasantries.

He was still a resourceful medic in this time period, quite nervous and still tentative over starting a writing career out of the various issues correlated to the job. Yet Arthur proved to be capable of offering a pleasant conversationalist with his own perception of the paranormal.

Still, my real problem was manifested by the two figures that represented the leadership of the Ghost Club: Stainton Moses and Alaric Alfred Watts.

Both men were… experienced in the occult. To be fair, I wasn't much trusting of these two specific individuals, knowing perfectly that they weren't the true founders of the Club as they've stated multiple times in their own circles. There was also something that I found uneasy over the strange way they had both replied to my letters.

Quite curt, terribly polite, but, worst of it all, desperate for something to help their efforts to revitalize the group. Real-politick is nice until I'm the one giving orders rather than receiving them.

And this is why, with some careful planning, I decided to limit my 'claims' to just a single element I knew they would've never been able to use against me. Or at least, not without incurring in my wrath and dying by trying any sneaky move on me.

The two elders were sitting one beside another, while the rest of the Club looked… dull. Everyone was bored and discouraged from the fact that the 'grand reunion' had yet to begin. The moment I entered their sight, some looked incredibly irritated at the fact a 'young boy' was here at this important gathering.

I didn't spare this minority much of a simple glance, with my attention quickly fixing at the men that were the most important. I approached the table and Stainton sported a quick smile.

"I suppose you're the one that sent us the letter detailing quite the impressive study on a possible paranormal energy," The old man mentioned with a nod. "Please, do come closer."

I blinked at the tone, feeling rather unnerved by the attention I was receiving, but still sporting a strong outlook as I knew that the moment I displayed any weakness, I was going to get exploited by these dangerous individuals.

They were all for the 'good cause' of spiritualism and paranormal, but they weren't certainly going to step up their level to talk to me with a proper intellectual tone because of my age and height. They didn't know better and they had yet to experience what I'm truly made of.

"That's correct," I politely remarked. "And I suppose I'm talking to Stainton Moses."

The elder nodded, his smile barely changing as he turned to address the man sitting beside him. "Yes and… this is my associate-"

"Alaric Alfred Watts," The fellow old man interjected coolly, his stare setting on me. "I've read your letter with certain interest, young Dio. And I find it ironic that your name is… correlated to the figure of God."

I nodded. "My mother believed in the Lord. And her belief was fueled by the truth within this world. That things are beyond what they seem to be."

He blinked. "Is that so? Then please, do enlighten us about this… truth," Watts pressed on with some insistence. "You mentioned this energy, but surely you understand we can't believe at some baseless claims."

"I'm sure you've also received the drawing attached to my letter. The one which would help understand the process behind the production of such an energy."

A nod, and then he placed by the table the precise drawing of the golden rectangle. At this point, some of the members were sparing interest over this development. I knew that some had some scientific basis, and they were aware of what the 'golden ratio' was.

Without offering any other words about the matter, I proceeded to bring out from my jacket's left pocket a small wooden ball. I showed it to the rest of the group around, gaining their attention as… I started to spin it.

At first there was silence, then some individuals tensed up as the effects of the Spin entered in motion. Shock reigned supreme within the minds of those assisting at this spectacle of light.

The two leaders were both stomped at the sight, with Stainton having lost his smile as his jaws dropped low at the scene. His associate was digesting the situation better, with only his eyes widening at the revelation unfolding before him.

Soon, I could feel the power of controlling the room where I was. No one moved, silently staring as the sphere finally ended with its Spin. I blinked, a small smile spreading on my face as I regarded everyone in that room with a sigh.

"I hope that this was a good enough proof," I inquired calmly. "For I too believe that proof should be manifested with this kind of claims, as only with proof we can know for sure what is true from what if wrong."

They were mesmerized- no, they were allured by my speech because of the shocking sight I have given them. I could see it in their eyes, in their souls. I could see some already praising me quietly as their Lord reincarnated.

It would've been nice to let them profess me as God reborn… but I wasn't really hoping for that. Fanatics weren't what I was searching there, or at least not the ones of the religious kind. I needed servants, faithful and trusted minions that could influence society thanks to their own circles.

Instead of letting the confusion dwindle out in a moment of spiritual zealotry, I merely sighed.

"Of course, I think it's best for me to not let a thought manipulate you to think me the wrong way," I confessed quietly, giving another look around as to make them understand I was talking to all of them. "For it would be wrong to label me as the Lord, or even Jesus Christ. I'm neither of them… but I feel close to their message."

Their moment of religious stupor was dashed away with these words, but they still listened as I was yet to finish and… because I was being honest in a moment of genuine honesty.

"I believe that the world can be better. That we can make it better," I continued with a sigh. "A world were war is a distant memory, where hate can be resolved through talk rather than with violence. That the word shouldn't be shied away from because of how soft it sounds like," I said, pausing just a moment to check on their fascination over my words. I had them hooked up. "And I understand those that find my words idealistic, foolishly so, and I respect them for being this much distrustful. People can abuse trust in the worst of way, because in this world we're implicitly taught to exploit emotions, manipulate minds..."

I made a sharp turn, looking on the opposite direction. I needed to masterfully use all theatrical gestures I could muster up 'without sounding too fake'. And I was succeeding by the way things looked like.

"But I don't care about people as tools. I can see their worth, I can understand their concerns, but I would never go further than using my own body, my own mind, to deal with my own problems," I commented, feeling my heartbeat picking up a little at how much I was winding out this speech. "Which is why I believe it's about time, now that the entire world is known to mankind as a whole, to start taking steps towards the heavens. A just world to match with God's ultimate design."

"World peace," Someone muttered in a whisper.

"Equality," Another whisperer added.

"Justice," A third man echoed from behind some of his colleagues.

I felt the collective thought resonating with my speech with just a handful still looking skeptical. But I was glad of the results as… I knew that words weren't going to be the only thing that were going to prove my vision as the proper one.

It could always get better, but for now the one I actually yearned for was enough to satisfy the occupants of this very room. I could already feel it in the air, as people soon started to 'crave' for answers to their own questions.

My smile widened as I was more than willing to offer them my wisdom, and to show them the right way to follow. While I hadn't gained some cult with the same undying loyalty as Dio's original one, mine was already shaping to be a decent one with the positive reactions I was getting from the all.

_**For I, Dio, had but just taken the first step in influencing not only the capital, but also the nation as a whole. And my job here was far from done…**_

* * *

**AN**

**Werewolf boy and occult. The surreal and the madness. **

**Behdiya (**भेड़िया)** is Hindi for Wolf. Kind of straightforward, but there will be more about the wolf-boy. The name, and the first taste of personality will be just the tip of a massive iceberg dedicated to him.**

**Now yes, I did just make a sharp turn to give our lovely Lord Dio-Sama a cult filled with notable people. **

**And before you ask, no. I didn't exaggerate with the 'easiness' this people were manipulated. Some of these individuals were influenced by 'mediums' and other spiritual readers. Religion was the key of success, especially when Dio represents the 'divine alternative' devoid of any scam or fakeness. **

**Also… why not Hamon? People will surely ask, but I know some already have made this connection. People that learn Hamon can live for a long time and… some individuals there don't deserve that kind of power… yet. **

**Quick comment: Capitolo Primo will probably end by Chapter 20. Once there, things will take a drastic change from the classic Bizarre Adventure as I plan to mashup some elements from various parts of Jojo to create Dio's unique adventure from that point onward. Expect lots of developments beyond the standards!**

* * *

**Omake 8: My Bizarre Stalker… 2?**

**Original Idea from: Dyliokhan (SB)**

* * *

When I imagine a monster that I would genuinely be afraid of encountering in my dreams… I would think about Freddy Krueger.

The crass and insane killer was something that I had developed a temporary fear when I had decided to 'test my bravery' and watch Nightmare on Elm Street when I was a little older than ten.

A being capable of becoming your worst fear and kill you with it? Truly terrifying for a child to be even thinking about. But the truest fright didn't come from the creativity of the disfigured murderer. No, it came from his capacity to deny one the chances of leaving the dreamworld and actively avoid getting killed by the limited bastard.

Now, the issue here as to why I'm referencing to this seemingly unrelated topic is… the nightmare I was currently trying to run away from. Sure, a female and cute Jonathan Joestar might appear endearing and lovely to a clueless spectator's eye, but there were two things that made her adorable disposition vanish at those bestowed with a peculiar sight.

The first one… was the immense plant-like creature that was her Stand, which quickly reminded me of the overly-absurd and thankfully non-canon ability that the 'first' Joestar was capable of mustering thanks to the Arrow.

The second things was-

"Dio~! This isn't the proper time for a fun chase~," The girl shrieked in the middle of her giggles, sending numerous shivers down my spine. "I got the priest, Papa has accepted after some persuasion, and now we can proceed and become _more _than mere brother and sister~!"

I was running, paying no attention of the madness unfolding behind me as Hamon continued to pump through my legs as to bolster my speed to inhuman level. I wasn't even paying attention to the people nearby, knowing that nothing could save them from the monstrosity giving chase.

Too big, too strong- I knew that nothing in my current arsenal of impressive abilities could've disabled **｢****Ultimate Hermit Purple****｣** from continuing with its pursuit. The degree of destruction coming close behind me was enough to prompt me to intensify with my efforts to get away _from that fucking thing!_

I was already starting to freak out at the fact that I was supposed to find a way out of that maddening rush. The monstrous Stand and its crazy user weren't relenting, and nothing here in London could technically damage such a humongous threat.

Note for the future: get some artillery pieces as soon as my economic and social capacity allows me to. Big cannons at that.

Just as I mused over this last detail, I saw a large green tendril slam into the building by my right side. The construction exploded in smoke and falling bricks which forced me to make a leap forward while holding my arms close and protecting my face and head.

The cloud of gray covered the sight the girl had over me, giving me the chance to take a sharp turn to the nearby alley and bolt as quickly as possible. The place was just too tight to accommodate that Stand and I was hoping that Yandere JoJo hadn't noticed where I had gone after that attempt.

Silence was interrupted only by my steps as I made my way through the shadows and the puddles of dirty water. My heartbeat rumbled by my ears and throat as I finally slowed down at the lack of massive trashing happening close behind me.

It took me a while to actually trust the fact I had managed to shake off the crazy girl off my back. I paused, bending down to stare at the ground as I tried my best to recover from that insane marathon.

But just as I felt safe and away from danger, my panic swelled again the moment a soft hand reached me from behind, effectively shutting me from yelling at the situation, while another individual joined to bring me away from the alley and inside a building through the nearby backdoor.

Soon I was released, but not before I was pushed inside the large room there. The dim light forced me to adapt to the new situation, but my guard didn't lower… until I noticed Hannah's smiling face.

I blinked, my tension failing to lessen at the mere idea that there could've been more people with the same disposition as my former pursuer. "Hannah-" I addressed curtly, turning quickly to grace the second individual. Only to stop at the familiar/unfamiliar face I was bestowed with.

Her clothes- those almost made me blurt out a 'Speedwagon' at how closely those seemed to be the trustworthy blond gentleman's… but the slimmer figure, the petite face and the skirt replacing his pants…

…

…

The scar was precise to an absurd degree.

…

"Speedwagon?"

Her brown eyes lit at the address. "Yes, Dio?"

Oh fuck. This- This makes things a lot more… interesting.

**I, Dio, felt that the world was trying to balance Jojo's crazy yandere tendencies with a Genderbent Speedwagon. **

"W-What's the situation?" I finally asked, drawing both women's attention on me.

"Well, the city is being destroyed by some plant-like monster led by a girl wanting you for… something," Hannah summarized as curtly as possible. "Actually, why is she trying to capture you, Lor- Dio?"

Strange, I wouldn't have expected the dream version of my second second-in-command could've been so faithful for the real individual. Still, I didn't linger further on that topic as I knew that there was something _a little more important _than this detail.

"She is my step-sister and… she's trying to force me into marriage." I dropped the revelation quickly, letting them experience some surprise for a little amount of time as I wasn't done talking. "This is why, one way or another, we need to stop her."

The girls recovered shortly after, with Speedwaif-_Speedwagon_ taking the lead over the current state of orders. "What do we need to do? Surely, you've a plan to deal with her."

The urgency of her tone was met with a nod as I pondered over what I was supposed to do to defeat something like **｢****Ultimate Hermit Purple****｣** in a normal situation. Fire was the first thing that came to mind, but there wasn't a mean to produce that much fire in a short amount of fire.

Heck, even boosting the process through the Spin and Hamon would still take too much time to build up the flames, and I didn't have the means to keep the girl and her Stand still enough for that long.

The next idea was… actually sound.

Considering the streets I've been forced to run thorough, I knew that we were close to the Thames. The river had a few bridges connecting parts of London together and… some bridges were older than others, which meant that those weren't capable of holding well against a powerful blast.

"Do we have some explosives?" I asked quietly and half-distractedly.

Speedwagon nodded. "I think we have something there," She stated resolutely. "Any reason why?"

I merely smiled, explaining what my ambitious plan to take down the vine monster was.

Two hours later and an immense amount of dread forming at the fact I had to be the bait for this time-sensible plan, I found myself standing in front of the bridge.

Then the earth started to shake as from the other side of the river, a kilometer away from where I was, I could see something big, crazy and _murderously in need to dispense some loving_ making its way toward me.

I tensed up a little bit, my orange eyes widening as I started to see the small speck that was JoJo rushing quickly and relentlessly.

I couldn't hear much through that massive noise, but by the time I could see her lips and the strange repeated word being uttered by the Yandere.

'Mine.'

I shivered again, but I felt a sliver of confidence form as I saw Hannah waving in my direction and alerting me that the preparations were done. The bridge was primed to explode quite soon. It was now a matter of luck and dumb dream variables.

This was a dream, or rather a nightmare. Everything was now pointing at that and, hoping to be correct over this matter, I braced for an eventual failure in case my hopes had been misplaced on this plan.

Still, Jojo didn't seem to notice anything. In fact, the moment my frame became more visible to her, her speed picked up in an absurd manner.

I wanted to really run at this point, but considering the situation I was betting on, I couldn't afford to leave my trusted and loyal followers behind like this. I would need to cover for their escape if things went south really hard.

Surprise exploded within me the same way the bridge did as the mad Stand User was half-way to cross the bridge. Blue eyes widened in shock at the sudden conflagration tearing apart the ground below her feet. She 'eeped', but the smoke covered for her fall as I started to approach, knowing that things weren't going to be over with that mere fall on the river.

As cold as the Thames was, Jojo should be now capable of swimming and thus avoid drowning at this fall. Speedwagon and Hannah were already on the scene of the 'crime', prepared to subdue the girl in case she was still hanging somewhere in there.

Once I was there, I got sight over the situation and… frowned. Jojo was… bawling. Her arms were tied close to her waist thanks to a rope employed by the blonde, trying to shake the stronger woman off from her body. It looked like a hug from the distance, but it seemed more of a forceful grasp to keep the younger female from mustering her Stand once again.

"D-Dio! Get her off! She is groping me- pervert- crazy pervert!"

I could easily see that it wasn't the case. Speedwagon's hands were perfectly meeting by Jojo's upper shoulder, and the only thing I could barely consider as 'groping' was the fact the blonde was forced to keep herself close to the struggling woman.

Despite the fact the accusations were false, the former gang leader couldn't help but blush as she gave me a serious but embarrassed look.

"T-This is false! D-Dio, I'm not-"

"I'm aware that you're not molesting her, Speedwagon," I interjected calmly, while my brain was putting utmost care to suppress the need to groan at both girls' cute expressions. Jojo was easier considering the rampage she had just executed through London, the blonde was a little more difficult to think less about.

"Still, I think it's time to address the disappointing thing you just did here, Jojo," I muttered dryly, gaining the blue-haired teen's attention.

"W-What disappointment? I did nothing-"

"Look around, dammit!" I exclaimed with barely-veiled fury, aiming my open palm over the destruction left on her wake. "Don't you see the kind of damage you've done in the capital? The lives lost? The fact you did things to your father- and I don't even want to know how you convinced a sane priest to wed two underage individuals-"

"I-I think he knew about you- Kind of strange since he started to muse loudly about you-"

"As I've said, I don't care," I rebuked irritated, unwilling to even accept the fact that a certain priest was actually on the loose now of all times. I don't need to deal with Pucci after the bullshit I had to go through. "You've still hurt people, Jojo. You said you wanted to be a gentlelady, and yet you can't help but try to accuse someone like Speedwagon of such heinous claims."

The yandere flinched, while the blonde blushed again, this time at the implicit compliment thrown her way.

"J-Just, don't try anything now," I concluded with a resolute tone. "I will think about your proper punishment-" While also planning out my way out of this nightmare.

I sighed, unwilling to be influenced by the downtrodden state the blue-haired girl appeared to be as I looked away from her and… right at a nervous-looking Hannah.

"Is everything alright, Hannah?" I inquired quietly, still draining the fury that was bubbling in my chest.

"Just a little… shaken by the explosion," The young woman confessed softly, and now I noticed that she was trembling a little bit. "I'm fine."

…

"Do you need a hug? You seem paler and-"

"I don't want to ask that much. It wouldn't be right for me to ask that since… this happened," She indicated the depressed-looking Jojo.

"You wouldn't be asking for too much. We're friends and… You need to hold on something," I pressed on with legitimate concerns. This was the first time she had seen this big of an explosion and perhaps an embrace would also help me find a balance through that anger inside my body.

She didn't protest any further, but just as I felt her arms wrap around my neck while I had mine around her waist- I felt the world twisting as London disappeared from my sight.

_**I blinked awake and I, Dio, found myself staring at the familiar ceiling of my room.**_

I stared at it for a while, getting my entire mind collected and stabilized now that the crazy dream was done for. I felt my body tense and sweaty… but also, I could feel that there was some pressure down below my waist and… within my pants.

I frowned, then face-palmed.

_**I, Dio, refused to call that madness a convoluted wet dream just to experience a simple hug from Hannah.**_

* * *

**AN**

**Hannah! She is so cute- early plan had Speedwaifu to come in and ensnare Dio, but I found it more ridiculous and amusing to have someone as cute as Hannah to get in and win a hug.**

**About ****｢****Ultimate Hermit Purple****｣… ****yeah, that's a thing from Jojo's Bizarre Summer Break (Which is a Part 3 Sequel to Dio's Bizarre Adventure); Both are written and drawn by artist Utano.**

**REVIEW Q&A!**

**Dylstion****: ****｢****The World****｣ ****is DIO's Stand. While Dio took Jonathan's body, it was confirmed in the anime that Dio also had a semi-dormant Stand that shared similarities with Joseph's ****｢****Hermit Purple****｣ ****and it's considered Jonathan's Stand.**

**DNkru135****: It's close to midnight as I'm writing this and I will probably go to sleep with that question in mind. **_**Now I need some mind-bleach! (But no, she ain't Pucci-boy. XD)**_

**Someguy****: As of right now, this story is in: Fanfiction, Spacebattles, Sufficient Velocity, Questionable Questing, The Royal Road and Archive of Our Own. My accounts all have the same picture (and the one in SV should be JustBukharin).**

**Claton fromMoga****: YES!**


	13. Special Omake 1: Dio's Odd Tree Incident

**DISCLAIMER**

**The following is a fan-based**

**FICTION**

**All Parts of the JJBA are all owned by Hirohiko Araki. **

**Please Support the Official Release!**

* * *

**Special Omake 1: Dio's Bizarre Tree Incident... **

**[Main Writer: Master Blaster (SpaceBattles)]**

* * *

_**Experiment #40, Golden Spin Overdrive**_

[…] _My second attempt was a little more 'brazen' considering that I focused to spin the ball of steel some more before throwing it against the tree and… this time something more happened._

_A blossomed daisy popping resolutely and suddenly from the bark of the tree, this time my smile widening at the better result._

_I continued with my experiments for twenty minutes, maybe thirty, before deciding that it was time to return back to where JoJo was before getting in trouble about my unexpected disappearance- _

But before I was really gone, I thought about how my progress with The Spin were showing some admirable results. It was interesting how flexible of an ability the Spin was and… I decided to make one last test before going.

On a whim, I decided to see if it'd be possible to infuse both the Spin, and Hamon at the same time. Both mystical forces dictated on a similar level, but both worked on two different sets of rules, with the Ripple being more magical in nature while the rotation-induced power followed logical laws of nature.

Initially, the experiment proved to be a bit frustrating. I started by infusing hamon into a small metallic sphere as the Spin started to appear around the rotating object. After coming close to get pincushioned by metallic shards from the exploding balls, I ultimately replaced these with a wooden replica for the ultimate experiment..

Perhaps it was the metal since I knew that it wasn't a good conduit for hamon, and that getting it to work well with the best medium to utilize the Spin would take some time.

A small experiment started to slowly take more time that I had planned for… but the results were undeniably satisfying.

It was tough early on, and it took me about a dozen tries before I had some positive aftermaths. This time the sphere didn't came to explode, and I started to get rough grasps of how to infuse hamon _within and around_ a metal, which was already a good thing whatever or not my experiment was going to work.

A couple more of minutes passed but soon I felt confident that I would be able to _merge_ the The Spin with Hamon.

It was time to give it a serious time… and I planned for a 'tree blooming' exercise.

For awhile, I felt the Spin cycle through the ball, coating it in energy. Soon I started to focus my breath and channel hamon _into_ the Sphere until I felt the life energy, the Ripple itself _through_ the sphere, starting to increase the pace of the rotation to endless momentum

It was brilliant, and I could feel something about the Spin starting to 'click' properly within my mind and soul. It took all of my concentration just to avoid losing control over either forces.

I waited, patiently drawing stability within that sudden intensification before I could launch the orb comfortably at a crown from where a section of branches slit into that I had selected as my target. I needed precision, I needed accuracy.

Just as I felt the timing being right, I felt enticed to speak and… to try something interesting I felt the need to say. A new technique… it needed a proper name after all.

**"Golden Spiral OVERDRIVE!" **I half-shouted, remembering that some passing servants could've noticed my little act, and then I launched the hamon-infused, rotating sphere at the tree.

The metal soared, my orange-eyed stare keeping locked onto the flying object with modest fascination and glee.

_Now, let's see how a tree branch would fare against a hamon infused sphere..._

**S**_LIP_

At first, nothing happened as the projectile collided onto its target. But then I noticed the branches _twisting_, starting to shake suddenly and abruptly.

Soon flowers started to sprout in those, blooming from within the tree's core and essence. It wasn't a specific kind of flower, but a wide variety that just felt mesmerizing to stare at as it slowly began to reach _beyond _the branches.

It was a fascinating success that got my jaws dropping in pleasant awe.

Still, I couldn't help but notice that wealth of flowers continued to bloom under my stare, the process reaching down to the base trunk of the tree itself. While I noticed the branches themselves creaking and still _twisting. _No, it was somehow shaking, as if trying to rotate on itself...

S**S**LL... S**S**LL... S**S**LL...

I stood on guard at the surprising sight. I began to notice that vines were starting to sprout from these flowers and that those too began to slowly spin.

There was a rumbling seemingly coming from the ground itself. I was confused as I kept staring at the tree as it continued to blossom beyond my previous attempts.

Did I, Dio, somehow create a _bizarre_ tree, one mutated by a harmonious approach of both Hamon and Spin energies?

A weird development, that left me perplexed at the curious scene. But one that I had yet to check on a more technical level. I stabilized my breath again, crouching down as I tapped at the land in an effort to sense what was happening 'internally' within my specimen.

It was life-force that greeted me, but it wasn't the usual reading I would get from a common tree. The energy, it was still spiraling from _within_ that tree, and it was burning brighter as it kept rotating. I opened my eyes in visible shock, only just now realized that the trunks are beginning to brow slowly, as if it's expanding outward.

New vines grew from the 'hollowed' trunk. It didn't have wood inside, but flowers. So many flowers.

Feeling intrigued by the bizarre pattern, I decided to walk closer and observe better what was changing with the tree.

It was only after a couple of steps toward it that I noticed that the _pattern_ of the rotating flowers just resembled that of the golden ratio. And on closer look, the branches were not breaking under the duress of the constantly rotating.

It's as if the Hamon… was repairing the damage caused by the Spin, soothing the pain too in the process, while being further fueled by the Rotation itself in an infinite process of activities.

While I was mesmerized by the massive success, my attention was stripped away by the tree itself as I felt something creep closer to where I was.

I jumped away just in time as I noticed that some of the vines had sneaked around and had been close to latch onto me. I was annoyed by the sudden attack from my creation… but then I realized that tree wasn't only slowly gaining more life-force. The retracting vines gave off a degree of understanding, of perception that I was now aware of that attempt to take hold of me.

It was… becoming intelligent. And it wanted… me?

_*RUMBLE RUMBLE*_

I could feel the ground starting to shake, and I was forced to take a few steps back as multiple objects suddenly grew from within out of the dirt floor, shredding some of the grass in the process.

Roots, that were wriggling _upwards-!_

Those were following the same spinning manner akin to the tree's flowers, but soon their pace seemed to _hasten_ within their rippling rotations...

The vines returned to approach me, this time displaying new flowers… and stopping by the flowers growing within the roots.

I noticed that all of the tree's leaves were covered in nothing, but rotating flowers, that began to _shed away_ from the branches and fly towards the sky…

I blinked in utter shock at the fact that those leaves weren't the previous green. But a suave and mellow pink.

**... Did I, Dio, managed to create an ever blooming [Sakura Tree] nearby the Joestar manor?**

* * *

**AN**

**Little surprise omake that isn't actually mine. Still, I like the concept and gave it some polishing before deciding to post it.**

**Here is the first Special Omake! **

**Yes, I will accept anyone's offer their own omakes to the story. I don't see any problem to that and I will be more to happy to offer some grammar polishing/spell-checking if any of those needs it.**

**Still, some minor rules:**  
**\- The Content of the omake shouldn't be too gruesome;**  
**\- Snippets? Do offer those even if those sound silly or amusingly stupid. Just give it a try!;**  
**\- No NSFW stuff, I don't think I need to bring up the Website Rules here; **


	14. Giovinezza (13)

**DISCLAIMER**

**The following is a fan-based**

**FICTION**

**All Parts of the JJBA are all owned by Hirohiko Araki. **

**Please Support the Official Release!**

* * *

**Capitolo Primo: Giovinezza (13)**

* * *

"T-This is horrible!" Jonathan half-yelled while slamming a certain tome I had the chance of reading just briefly in my past life.

George looked particularly irritated by the loud tone adopted by his son, but his eyes showed some conflicting thoughts over his reaction at that outburst so early in the morning.

It took me a mere glance in the situation to see that my interference would only escalate things beyond an acceptable level. So I focused on sipping at my cup and think about what I was supposed with my new income thanks to the recent donations of some wealthy men interested in my notions of world order.

"Jojo-"

"Father, you always told me to be respectful of everyone around me, may them be rich or not.. but this- this paper suggest so many horrible things," The young man continued, sounded even more appalled over the matter he was bringing up.

To be fair, I should've expected his teacher bringing up some pro-imperialist tomes for him to study. Archaeology was still a subject that well depended on colonies, especially with the swift mood swings between the Empires in Europe.

A moment the Russians were the big threat to the Pacific, the next day they were the UK's best friends against any issues in continental Europe. Same for other nations.

I wasn't much surprised to see his outburst after merely glancing to one of the few imperialist books that will be forsaken by science in about less than two centuries from now.

"Return to your seat and… heed my words, Jonathan," The nobleman ordered calmly, restraining himself from lashing out at that brash voice he was being subjected to. "The argument is sensible, and shouldn't be discussed in such a simplistic manner."

Partly correct, but not in the way you would want to, George.

Imperialism was… a necessary evil. Not one that I could wholeheartedly support considering the heinous deeds some colonial governors were going to commit once the Berlin Conference happened.

But I could still see a determined interest in 'capturing' these territories all for the sake of sustaining the stupidly-draining upkeep of the current industrial power within the isles. It was all pragmatism in full display, and I don't have a reason to 'justify' the fact it was all done in a cold and cynical perspective.

Sure, if I had the chance of controlling the colonial policies, I would've put some interest in helping the natives survive the aggressive expansionism, and perhaps integrate their tribes in modern society as new generations of a growing empire.

But right now there was no mean for me to sway anything about the current state of things. The Berlin Conference was meant to be convened in three years from now, and I was completely unprepared to make an attempt to sway that international reunion in a different direction.

Too many dangerous elements to keep an eye for, and so little time to muster up enough international influence and political weight to get things done my way. It was unpleasant, but I had no choice other than patiently prepare for the best opportunity to strike.

"Father..." Jojo looked incredibly reluctant over the words coming from his remaining parent, but a quick stare in my direction got him to finally comply. I gave him the usual nod to dignify the fact that I was going to talk to him about it and… I really wanted to have a discussion with him about the subject.

The reason? It was the strange explanation that George mustered for the occasion. The very one trying to highlight only the 'importance' of civilized nations have in 'bringing culture and order' in uncivilized countries.

Uncivilized… what a silly concept to denigrate obsolete civilizations. Obsolete was… better, but not the best term to depict a society which moral degradation has yet to become a variable in everyday's life.

Just as expected Jonathan gave it some attention, but ultimately failed to genuinely grasp at the main theme that his father was trying to bring out for him to understand. I could see George himself having some trouble believing what he was saying, but the older Joestar decided to take his son's silence as good motivation to keep quiet for the reminder of the breakfast.

I wasn't in the mood to quip for other conversations, as I knew that the opportunity that I was being offered in a golden plate just couldn't be refused. I had been working so much to get Jojo in a good situation where I could've finally approached him over my secret workings… but now I was ready to take a dangerous step and see how much trust existed between him and me.

A couple of minutes passed smoothly, but soon the two of us were talking about this matter right in my room. I was sitting by my bed as I looked at the young Joestar walking back and forth while he ranted about his displeasure over these discoveries.

"This is rubbish, Dio. This shouldn't be condoned. It's amoral- it's evil."

"It is," I muttered calmly, keeping my presence in that discussion to a minimum. I needed him to drain his current irritation before I could endear him with a proper intervention, or else I risked in incurring in some loud and unneeded detours in my explanation.

"But then why father support this? Why would he defend something so wrong?"

"Because… it's not convenient to fight it directly, Jojo."

…

"What? But-"

"And before I let you continue, please understand that I'm not saying that fighting it is impossible. Rather, I think that headbutting into such an issue would only result in a terrible ordeal for either you or your father," I started to say with a sigh. "We both know that words matter a lot to many high-class citizens in Britain. A 'wrong' opinion can easily end in some unpleasant aftermath."

His shoulder sagged a little at my words. "But then, what are we supposed to do?"

So desperate for a genuine good answer. A pity that I didn't have a quick one to offer back.

"Considering the circumstances, or better, how limited our shared reach is… nothing," I replied calmly. "For now, we can only bid our time and get some-"

"I-It can't be it. I know that people can protest and-"

"Either be shot, arrested or exiled for high treason," I interjected, forcing him to stay quiet. He really was moving with his romantic heroism… but there was no smartiness in that thought. No finesse. "Albeit a terrible practice, imperialism is entrenched within the monarchy's mindset. It's a must to compete with other nations to either have 'model colonies' or even get resources to sustain a mighty industry power."

"Still..." He didn't continue, his shoulders sagging even more as he took a seat by the bed right beside me. "Why?"

… "Hmm?"

"Why do you look this calm?" The young man inquired with some confusion. "You too consider it bad, but you didn't say nothing at the table and… even now you're quiet about it."

I blinked, understanding what he was implying to. "You think I stopped caring about the plight of people beyond our nation, Jojo?"

He didn't answer that, but I noticed his head tilting up and almost coming down to complete a nod.

Sighing, I shook my head at his misunderstanding of my silence. It wasn't outright stupid, but I swiftly deemed it rather silly from his part.

"I'm not unfazed by the common people suffering. May them be white, black, or Asians," I began talking. "But I've long learned that sprouting left and right about my opposition to the known rules is not going to help any of those that are constantly stepped upon. The only thing you get from doing that is bad attention from those that 'truly matter'."

"So… you hate it but… don't talk about it?"

"Not in public. Not so vehemently," I answered with a nod. "But with those you think you can talk about it without ever so incurring in any unpleasant ramification? That's up to you to decide."

"Just like with… you?"

"Erina would probably accept that kind of conversation too if you moderate yourself about it. Just don't expect the same fascination from her father," I admitted with a sigh, thinking that someone that works in India as a doctor for nobles couldn't be much interested about the topic. Especially if it threatened his line of work. "Still, from what I can see on your face, the real issue is that you wish to bring change to it, and not just discuss it. Am I correct?"

He looked surprised, but my words had him coaxed to an awed calm. A nod followed and… I sighed.

"Then I don't see any reason to keep this secret from you any longer… as I see that you and I can discuss about my own plans about a change since we both share the same desire."

I stood up from the bed and carefully turned to stare at Jojo once I was right in front of him.

"Dio? What are you talking about? A secret?"

Jonathan looked confused, slightly surprised by the sudden twist to the conversation but… I just knew what to say to him to get the best outcome out of this.

"Not a secret kept away for ill intents. It was all for fear of being misunderstood with my intentions and… labeled a villain," I started with a nod. "You can say that the circumstances that led me to this situation are… odd. Bizarre even."

"What?" He blurted out even more confused.

"Do you remember when I requested your father for a trip to the capital alone the first time around?"

There was a pause at this, just enough to get an answer from the quiet Joestar. Jojo offered a slow nod and I sighed.

"While I had told the truth about my main interest being finding my mother's wedding dress for that circumstance, that wasn't the only thing that happened that very day, Jonathan," I muttered calmly. "There's much more to that day than just that."

And from that very point, I started to reveal _most _of the truth.

It sounds stupid from an outsider's perspective to have a villain reveal his plans to their enemies, the heroes. But there was a reason why I was more than happy to drop as much genuineness than I could.

Jonathan's main trait in the series was that he sought the truth from Dio from the very beginning, and while it was directed at the malicious intents of the character I was impersonating, the reality was well mirrored in this very situation.

I was an enigma, but one that held a degree of positive rewards for the Joestar to unravel that it made the efforts the more interesting for him.

If Jojo was a bear, then my truthful words were the sweet honey he had been pursuing since that moment. He was a gentleman that thrived for moral goodness, and I had been his model to refine that code of honor. He was a hero, but one that was born in an age that didn't accept true knights any longer.

Still, the young man looked rather surprised and uneasy at the words coming out of my mouth. He would stop me once in a while to inquire for more details from a specific situation, and I would offer those without any restriction.

Despite Jojo's persisting nervousness about my revelation, the situation was tending favorably for me. He didn't seem angry, and his uneasiness was mostly directed at the insanity that were things like the mask, Wang Chan, and Jack the Ripper.

But while I had a strong hunch that things were working well for my plans, there was still something that managed to get me a little panicky at the end of that conversation.

"But still, why would this 'Wang Chan' be trying to hunt you down? Why would he go so far to steal the mask?"

...Dammit. Now that was the kind of query I had some trouble to truly reply to. And I couldn't certainly bail or deflect that question without sounding suspicious.

There was only one way out of that awkward setup. I needed to improvise with 'my' emotions.

Thus I let out a heavy sight, this time having my stare diverted from Jojo and to the only window in the room. I was quiet as I calmly walked up to it and stared outside with an unfocused look.

"This… is something that I'm troubled to mention. I didn't even have the strength to tell to your father despite he knows part of the truth about this topic."

I turned around and sported a melancholic expression. "My father, the man that George might have depicted as a strange good man… was a liar."

"A liar? And why is your father-"

"Let me finish, I beg you," I muttered with a sour tone, closing my eyes for a moment as I channeled my saddest look possible. A mix of serious mourning and complicated acting, I needed to appear legitimate with these memories. "It's… correlated to something heinous I did. A sin that I will always bear with pride, but that will still keep me in the greatest shame for being the worst man."

I blinked, almost imagining myself in that scene before the old drunkard.

"Dario Brando… he was a terrible person," I started with a quiet tone. "Not just because of his unhealthy correlation with alcohol. He was a violent man even without being influenced by the booze. At first… it was my mother that took the brunt of his anger."

"Dio-"

"When my mother died by… stress and overworking herself to the bone, I was the only one remaining in his proximity," I muttered, ignoring Jojo's attempt to stop me from going forward with the story. "I was quiet, never bother. I never saw a reason to bother but… you can say that I'm but just a human being and I too have a limit with my patience."

I took a step away from the window, then I stopped. It was all staged to appear the most serious possible. I couldn't certainly bring out authenticity without having been in that setting, but I could remember the lore and the scenes depicting Dio's last interaction with his father.

"Dario was a lazy man. He barely worked, and what money he would get was quickly spent at the nearby pub," I prepared for the big truth bomb. I needed to be ready, to stand up and shine before my small audience. "But one day the coin wasn't enough. And he still needed to drink despite the lack of means to afford a mere beer."

…

"My mother's wedding dress was something that I had treasured for years. It was the last thing I had for her and… he didn't care," I let my shoulders sag as I said this. "Or if he did, it wasn't enough to keep him from buying more booze. And it was in that very situation that I knew that I had to something to change everything."

Jonathan looked uncomfortable, but he still asked. "W-What did you do, Dio?"

Ah, to think that I was meant to appear sad before such a terrified young man. Truly unpleasant, but there was no coming back out of that melancholic drama.

"Wang Chan owns a shop in Ogre Street. His products are mysterious, but rare and… effective," I went to answer. "I didn't bother inquiring about the vial I bought with some of the money I had gained doing various miserable jobs. I had a single intent and… it worked."

"Dio..." At this I finally stopped. He had realized, and I could see it in his widening eyes. "You… You killed your father."

"I did," I confessed calmly, still tensing up as I thought about what to say next. "But I will not hide myself behind my ideals of justice. This case doesn't justify, nor I will try to hide away the fact that it was personal revenge driven by my hatred for the man. I detested my father for being a bastard, Jojo. A bastard that killed my mother, that demeaned her to the point that she couldn't help but consider herself only a tool, and not a human being."

"B-But surely- There's no way that-"

"I will not hide myself in lies, Jojo. If there's something that I aim for, it's moral truth. The absolute good that one should always fight for," I interjected. "And this is why, I will not lament if you reject me as a brother. I did something terrible and I will receive proper judgment for-!"

I didn't have time to conclude that very sentence that something I had not expected unfolded. Jonathan… stood up quickly from the bed and, sporting a furious look, pulled me in a tight hug.

Confusion swelled at that point as there was silence after this sudden action. With my eyes wide open, I tried to understand the thought of the one that started the hug. I couldn't get anything, or at least that was until he finally decided to speak.

"I refuse to consider you a terrible person, Dio," Jojo mused while squeezing a little more. "You're my brother. Someone I trust and care as part of my family and… while you did something dreadful, it wasn't without reason."

He pulled back for a moment. "I can't say that I will not condemn what you did to your father, but I will not vilify you for doing what you thought it was the best you could've done," The young man commented. "I will say what you're now. You, Dio, are perhaps one of the few people I know that I can trust my life to. You… are my brother, and you helped me ever since you joined my family. I will condemn your past, but I will accept your current and future merits as due redemption for that villainous act."

"Jojo-"

"But I want one thing about this. Something that I wish to know by person now that you mentioned it to me," He grasped at my shoulders quite tightly, a small smile appeared on his face as he prepared for the proper request. "You've… befriended a werewolf."

I blinked. "Yes?"

"Show him to me!"

...Oh right, Jonathan is still a childish dog-loving dummy when he wants to. I almost facepalmed at that sudden question but… I merely nodded.

I mean, I don't see why Bhediya would've a problem with some headpats. He sure does seem to like it when it's either Sarah or me approaching him with such offer.

_**And I know that Jojo will not risk his life for some headpatting.**_

* * *

"It's… rather chilly. Isn't it?"

I blinked at Jojo's little whine, glancing to the side as we both departed away from the chariot that had left us to this part of London.

Convincing George to just let his son come with me for a 'safe trip' in the city ended up being a child's play. The man was still bothered by how he was supposed to properly address his son's strong opposition to Imperialism and any mean to delay that unavoidable private talk was taken as a blessing.

"It's barely winter's time, Jojo," I mused back. "I told you to put on something warmer instead of that little jacket."

He blushed a little, remembering way too well that I've brought up the fact he needed a heavier set of clothes now that December was around the corner.

"I'm… I'm fine, then."

I sighed. "If you catch a cold, I will not cover for your silliness."

"I don't mind!" The young man reiterated with more determination. It was now his pride on the line.

"I think Erina will if she is denied the chances of catching up with you," I muttered teasingly. "Unless… you plan to have her work as your nurse-"

"T-That's a lie!" Jonathan shouted back, his blush becoming a full-fledged tomato face. "I mean, it would be nice but I would never ask her to do that?"

"I bet she would be quite eager to do that for you," I pressed on with a smug tone. "In fact, I think she would rush at the chance at the mere mention of such circumstance."

"..." He fell silent at that last hit, and I smiled all the way as we walked inside Ogre Street.

What once had been a dangerous quarter for someone our age, now the place was a little haven for people close to me.

"If it isn't Lord Dio," An old hag mentioned as she stopped in the middle of her stroll. "I bid you a good day, young child."

"Likewise, Madam Wingtown," I greeted back with a polite smile. Instead of resuming with her wandering, the old lady reached out for Jojo. The blue-haired youth tensed as a hand cupped his left cheek.

"And what a handsome young man. You look so much like my little Andrew..."

Jonathan spared me a confused look and I sighed. "Are there still some problem with letters from him, Madam?"

The hag hummed sadly and nodded. "I think it's the war. Crazy one at that, so sudden, so unexpected."

"I'm sure that the issue will be solved soon," I commented with a friendly tone.

She finally let go of the young Joestar and happily returned to her strolling around.

"W-What was that?" Jojo inquired in utter shock.

I sighed. "Madam Wingtown's son, Andrew, was a soldier during the Crimean War about thirty years ago."

…

"H-He is-"

"I think she received a post-mortem medal and a telegram detailing the events that saw his death in battle," I interjected quickly. "At this age, she is completely senile. Which is why there are people that had been sent to take care of her during these trying times."

He glanced at me with surprise. "You… you're helping her?"

"Why shouldn't I?" I found myself ask. "I think everyone is deserving of a serene and happy ending if they've lived a simple but good life. Especially those that have been torn apart by wars like that one."

The young man nodded, and soon we were back on track to reach the warehouse.

More people stopped to greet me, and I offered curt replies and nods as we passed near to them.

Jonathan watched, quietly witnessing this strange sense of calm and peace in what looked to be a dreadful-looking slum within the city.

Soon we found ourselves standing in front of the entrance to our destination. The reason why we had yet to enter was the blond man that was obstructing the way while playing around with his 'flying hat'. Children had rallied to watch the interesting sight, and Speedwagon looked incredibly giddy as he completed several quick tricks without missing a beat.

"W-Who is that?" Jojo inquired with some interest.

"That's Speedwagon. He's quite the tough guy with a good heart. A true gentleman through and through," I answered, almost cracking a smile at the intrigued look on the boy's face at hearing the word 'Gentleman'.

It took the blond a couple of seconds to finally get his spectacle concluded, with him speeding up the moment he noticed that I was staring at him quite closely and waiting with a new person beside me.

"Dio, we weren't expecting you to pass around for today," The man said while nodding at me. "And you've brought a guest with you?"

I nodded back. "This is Jonathan Joestar, my brother," I muttered, letting Jojo bow a little in front of the fascinating stranger. "While this is-"

"Robert E. O. Speedwagon," The blond concluded for me with a more theatrical bow. "And I can tell from your scent that you're a good fellow."

"My… what?"

"Do you remember when I mentioned that friend that could determine good people from bad one with a single sniff from his nose?"

Jojo nodded and… his eyes widened. "You're- But I thought that it was an overestimation."

"Many believe that when I mention my strange skill. But I can assure you it's real and… I developed it after spending years here in Ogre Street," Speedwagon commented mirthfully. "By the way, Dio, I think Hannah had mentioned about sending you a letter earlier today about some developments with the donations."

My eyes widened in surprise, remembering that I had left the reading of the various messages with the money to the young woman. Hopefully nothing bad had happened during my absence.

"Then I better not keep her waiting," I hummed with a small smile. "Keep up with the good work, and see you around soon."

"Likewise, Dio," The blond saluted back. "Same for you, young Joestar."

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Speedwagon."

He sighed. "Robert or Speedwagon work the same. I'm no Mister."

The young man merely nodded at that, his smile surviving as we entered the warehouse. The place was bustling with activity just like usual, but there were quite some interesting visitors for today.

One in particular stood out because of his unusual height and… I decided to stop by and approach Muddiburi.

The Tibetan man looked distracted as he was discussing with another individual I hadn't seen for some time now. Bhedyia looked slightly irritated, but he merely stared at the older man as he listened to his words.

Before I had the chance to interrupt that conversation, I noticed a brown-haired missile giggling and rushing towards me. I caught Sarah just in time with a quick hug, and the little girl's giggles intensified in a hysterical mess as I lifted her up in to my chest.

"Hello there, Sarah," I greeted with a big smile.

"Dio! You're back!"

I almost chuckled at her adorable squeal, offering a little kiss on her forehead before bringing her down and out of my hold.

"I see that you're having fun around. Did something amusing happen while I was away?"

"Hmm," She hummed excitedly. "Hannah was saying strange things to some paper. She looked angry… but it was funny to look at."

Ignoring that innocent look at what looked to be a total meltdown, I felt a little more worried now that I was hearing about 'funny words' being thrown against letters. I really hoped that the woman had yet to think about burning any strange messages.

"That sounds… quite hilarious. In fact, I should go and check if she has yet to summon some scary flames against the poor paper."

She giggled at the childish undertone I had used for that last part, but before I could leave I remembered about Jonathan. The young man looked puzzled by my sudden need to talk in private with this woman and… I had a brilliant idea.

"By the way, Sarah, I think I forgot to present you my little brother," I made way to show Jojo, the Joestar looking fairly surprised at the sudden presentation. "His name is Jonathan Joestar, but friends call him 'Jojo'."

She 'ohh'ed at the interesting discovery and her wide eyes regarded in awe the slightly-nervous boy.

"I'm Sarah!"

"N-Nice to meet you, Sarah," He muttered back, surprised by how lively the child was.

"Can I call you 'Jojo'?" She quickly asked. "I like it. It's super-nice."

Jojo might be impervious to romantic attempts through his denseness, but cute girl like Sarah? That seemed to be kryptonite as he swiftly offered a nod.

"I don't see why not- Uh?"

"Can I show Jojo my brother, Dio?"

For a moment, I thought that the girl was addressing the poor Jonathan like a puppy or another animal with how she was asking me about this.

"I don't see any issues with that. Just do tell both your brother that he is part of my family."

Sarah smiled and nodded, reaching for Jojo's unprotected right hand and starting to pull him away from me and right into the 'menacing' Tibetan monk and long-haired young man.

"D-Dio- Don't just leave me to-"

"Sarah's brother, Bhediya, is the werewolf you were interested into," I interjected, my sudden interruption getting a fascinated glint out of the Joestar. "I will be in the office for a while and then I will bring you to it. I thought you wanted to meet him first."

"Bu-But what about-" He said while eyeing the towering man now looking back at him. "Him?"

"That's Muddiburi. He's a peaceful monk despite his stature. Don't be afraid of him."

That was the last words I offered to Jojo as he was yanked right into the wolf's den by the happy-looking brunette. Truly a curious and amusing sight, but one that didn't distract me for long as I had pressing issues to face at once.

Quickly pacing to reach the office, I pushed the door open to find… Hannah slowly trying to throw the first letter in the now-lit fireside. She froze, eyes going wide as she turned to look at me with an embarrassed look.

"Dio," The woman muttered with an awkward tone. "I didn't… expect a visit from you."

"Let's just say that I brought someone new that I wanted to introduce to everyone here," I answered calmly. "But first, do pass me that letter."

She retracted the paper away from the close flames but… she didn't comply. "I- I can't do that, Dio."

"Hannah-"

"I swear it's not something you wish to read," Hannah plead with some nervousness in her lips. "It's… it's crass."

"I can assure you that I've read far worse than anything within that paper," I retorted with a huff. "I will not ask again, pass me the paper."

With her shoulders sagging in defeat, she walked up to me and offered me the letter she had been about to throw in the hot fire. I gave it a read with a disinterest look… but then I felt tensing up the more I continued to read the content of that heinous poetry.

I've heard of lewd literature in this strange period, but this was possibly the first time I read one directed specifically to me.

I coughed nervously, reaching for the desk and writing down the name of this 'esteemed gentleman' that had sent me this crass thing and then I proceeded to throw the filth into the cleansing flame.

"From now on, you're to write down the names of the people that have written things like the one I've read about," I commented quietly. "Once you're done with that, then you can purge this… degrading trash."

Hannah's eyes lit in eagerness at such an order. "I-It shall be done. But… why you need their names?"

"I think we can do something about these… harassers. But it will take some coordination with Scotland Yard and… some bribery too."

"Jail time for them?"

"Hopefully."

And hopefully enough, it will be Big Bubba the one waiting for them in their newest room. There are limits and what I just read went beyond that and far more.

Hannah giggled, and I proceeded to leave her alone for a while as she went through with her new task. Once I was out of the office, I gave a look where I had left Jonathan and… frowned at the scene I was bestowed with.

Bhediya had his wolf-like ears exposed, learning towards Jojo as he happily let the fellow young man scratch his animal ears. Sarah was giggling, while Muddiburi was staring at the sight with mild amusement.

What made the entire scene the most endearing and amusing? The tanned young man had also his fluffy tail uncovered and… it was wagging left and right, a clear sign of enjoying that treatment.

I snorted, shaking my head at the entertaining sight.

_**And in that moment, I, Dio, saw how genuinely good my decision had been. For I had responsibly created a steel-like friendship between a dog-lover and someone with a furry problem.**_

* * *

**AN**

**Last bit? It was a reference to Harry Potter.**

**Now, I think everyone can be happy with the fact that next chapter will have some progress Stand-wise. Some more hints, some more clues and… Some more Wryyy!**

**And now- **

_**!ZA WARUDO- OMAKE OVAH HEAVEN!**_

* * *

**Omake 9: Maria the Ripper (3)**

**Original Idea from: KingAllen (FFN)**

* * *

A week passed since Maria Jacqueline Brando entered my large scheme of things and… my life.

Things hadn't been as smooth I planned those to be… especially when Muddiburi decided to tutor me at the simple condition of not seeing 'the foul creature' hanging around me.

Which was kind of sad since I had plans to help Jackie learn how to swim, and to help her face the slight fear she had over water bodies.

It was a legitimate concern of hers that stemmed from the fact that the souls that made her essence were all killed by drowning. All those unwanted children… thrown into the darkness of the Thames.

I was careful to not sound too pushy over this matter. I could see that she was having already some issues in merely thinking about that topic and I didn't want to shove her too hard against her Aquaphobia.

Still, with Muddiburi visiting on a regular basis for my training sessions, I managed to finally get some insight over what Jack truly was.

My first idea that she was a mere Wraith proved to be correct… but the idea itself about what Wraiths were from what was known in the Nasuverse's lore ended up falling down as a false assumption on my part.

Jack wasn't the Jack I had thought her being. Or rather, this Jack wasn't attached to the madness that was the Nasuverse.

No Magecraft, no Alaya, no Gaia, and, most of all, no need to worry about a certain white-haired tanned Archer passing by to kill me for manipulating the current state of things.

Clocktower didn't exist. I had to check thoroughly and make a stupid rush to check onto where the entrance to the association was. That very part didn't exist in the British Museum and I even looked around the basement within the building, where the entrance was meant to be, to confirm this.

The Magus Association wasn't there, and I could already breathe a relieved sigh at the lack of possible new enemies so early on.

I couldn't find any other elements from the Fateverse existing within this world much to my growing ease. I tried by checking for any correlation to the Einzbern Family, or even about the Tohsaka clan from the various books about Japan that were available in the Joestar's library.

I even thought that this was more of a Tsukihimeverse and went around to see if I could find anything about Zelretch.

Zelretch was the main element that truly would confirm or not if this was a full-fledged mix with an alternate Nasuverse.

...But I couldn't find anything about him, nor I knew how to catch his attention.

I was stuck in that doubt that maybe things were just terribly different from what I had thought those being… but then again, Muddiburi would've mentioned about 'strange blue lines' in everyone's body if there was such a thing like Magic Circuits.

With that theory debunked on a large scale, my worry shifted back to Jack.

A coincidence, that's how I had worded out that curious 'cameo' from such a recently renowned individual.

Jackie was an anomaly. A cute one, but still an unexpected element within this world.

More words from Muddiburi highlighted the unexpected element that was Jack's existence. Wraiths were meant to be monstrous, as those generally formed by mixing the various aspects of war victims' appearances. Skeletal, deformed, hooded, mindless, and horrible.

But Jack was none of that, and I quickly realized that the reason why she looked as such was the souls that made her… her.

Drowned children, with a striking majority of girls, that had all a youthful and childish appearance.

Prostitutes were already horrified by the nature of their jobs, but it was the fact that they were conceiving bastard children to their clients that truly made them shiver in self-hatred.

The girls were the one that hit them the worst because they surely could see another batch of sex workers that wouldn't have any choice on the future choices about any possible jobs.

It was unpleasant to think about this, but the more I looked at Jack and… how much earnest she was in her embraces, the more I was being reminded of the starvation of affection that the children had to endure.

Jack represented the main entity, but the desire was intense because of how connecting it was to all those souls part of that conglomerate.

Another thing that truly left me perplexed was a warning that my Hamon teacher decided to level on me.

Jack was still a Wraith. While many would easily call those creatures akin to zombies, there were major differences between a monster and another.

Zombies and Vampires were by nature weak to Sunlight/Ripple. The mystical ability worked as a mean to 'reanimate' the undead element and… force those to die right as the monstrous nature clashed against the past humane one.

But Wraiths? They were completely the opposite. Lifeforce was something they needed to consume on a constant basis to survive, and Jack wasn't an exception to that rule.

Being around other human beings, the girl was always before an abundant presence of life energy that not only sustained her… but also helped her 'stabilize'.

Wraiths were anomalies within the scale of existence. Their presence was similar to Ghost in the plane of existence, but their conditions those to turn into something a little more material.

More energy equaled to a stabler body. A stabler body meant that the wraith would eventually be able to produce life energy on its own.

Which meant that eventually Jackie was going to turn in a human with a single soul… or that's how things seemed to allude to.

It was still difficult to assess from an early look if her body was going to keep the unnatural magical power within her core, or if her soul was going to become a single thing or still a collective of multiple 'hiveminded' souls.

But… I was sure of one thing in particular over the matter.

Jack was loyal to me, and only me.

Sure, she had been quite affectionate towards me and… she had kept a good attitude towards Jojo and Jonathan. Heck, she even started to play around with Danny after the dog had decided to finally approach her and see if she was nice or not despite her inhuman nature.

But the final testament of her familial love manifested when she acted when Wang Chan struck for a second time.

There had been so much happening in that day. From finding out that Hannah, the young woman I had 'saved' from Jack, was now leading a gang and happily relinquishing it to my command, to the large warehouse filled with various goods that was now mine to organize and use.

The young woman was, of course, unnerved by the fact that Jackie was now a 'friend', but she seemed to melt away in a cute spree when the white-haired child apologized with a genuine tone for what had happened and accepted some heavy petting from the former courtesan.

Then the mad Chinese man attacked, getting a surprise attack on me and tying my hands through some magical chains. It was just as I started to feel a concussion at being slammed on the nearby wall that I saw a white and black blur move towards the dark magician.

He survived the single rush, but the same couldn't be said about his now missing left hand. That precise strike was meant to free me from the shackles, but it also forced the crazy bastard in a swift retreat before I had the chance to coordinate a response.

Jackie was… inconsolable when she first took notice of my injuries. I hadn't seen her this much… shaken. It was kind of saddening, but also the ultimate proof of her devotion.

My ease in offering hugs and headpats was increased to a normal stance as I was now aware of her genuine commitment in my cause, and I kept her in an embrace until we were back… home.

It was odd to think that the murderous thing that was Fate's Jack the Killer was happily nestling her head on my shoulder, her semi-limp arms wrapped around my waist and… snoring softly by my hear.

With that responsibility now confirmed as a must to protect, my ambitions were unchanged… if not improved by Jack's presence in the big picture.

The world needed a childish perspective once in a while. So why don't give an understanding child a job in the new order around the corner?

* * *

**AN**

**New Jackie's omake and… next one will have some bits of a chapter. I had some difficulty to pick a proper scene from the many chapters available, but I can assure ya all that next one will have cute Jackie being absurdly helpful… and adorable.**

**Yes. This is my ambition!**

**REVIEW Q&A!**

**Dylstion****: Interesting idea, I will probably make it Omake 11 or 12.**

**TrueNecromancer****: Everyone loves a cutie, especially if that cutie is Mama-loving Jack-chan. I hope the third Omake was a good appetizer!**


	15. Giovinezza (14)

**DISCLAIMER**

**The following is a fan-based**

**FICTION**

**All Parts of the JJBA are all owned by Hirohiko Araki. **

**Please Support the Official Release!**

* * *

**Little announcement: Dio's Stand is revealed in this chapter. I've no drawing about it, but I've a description to it. If anyone is interested in making a proper fanart, I would be happy to listen up to anyone willing to do anything about it. (All of this through DMs/PMs) **

* * *

**Capitolo Primo: Giovinezza (14)**

* * *

"So you think you've come close to unleash something from within. Something that is meant to represent your fighting spirit," Muddiburi summarized calmly, sitting by the patch of grass close to the river.

We were not alone in that clearing as Jonathan was currently trying to unlock his Hamon together with Bhediya. I had expected for the young Joestar to be interested in the fascinating technique meant to save lives, but I was surprised when the werewolf had decided to join in with this endeavor.

Bringing him there proved to be easy with Muddiburi literally taking detours to pick him off from the headquarters.

The long-haired teen was eager to learn about this skill, having heard just a few tidbits from the monk, but having no clue of how he was supposed to spark the process.

I had offered both boys the book containing the instructions to follow for their first step in the sublime art of the Ripple, and both were trying their own ways to do that.

With Jonathan trying to meditate, but failing miserably as he couldn't help but shiver whenever a sudden gust of wind would hit his barely-dressed body (the swimsuit offered plenty of openings right to his skin).

Bhediya had adopted a stranger approach, but one close to the one I had tried out to unlock my own reserves.

Waddling against the flow of the river, a certain dog was trying his best to not get dragged away from the non-negligible power of the stream, while also trying to tap in his inner self and unleash the Hamon within himself.

Two days had gone by since I've first introduced Jonathan to the rest of the group I was forming. He was positively impressed by what he had seen the first day around, and he had showed some interest in visiting once again whenever he had free time to spare for the trip.

I was happy that my efforts about the matter had returned quite the huge gain by making sure that JoJo knew that, while I was doing something technically bad, I was doing it to create a condition of good for many of those that shouldn't be capable of having a safe and happy life.

But what truly enveloped him to the cause was the story offered by Bhediya about the reason why an Indian boy like him was living here in London of all possible places.

Bhediya was taken care about only by his father. The man was himself a werewolf, the head of the family that for generations had to deal with this 'connection' to nature itself.

Living in an isolated village, the boy lived the first ten years of his life without facing any issues with the world around him.

Trouble rose when the British started to make sweeping controls over the region where the small family of two lived after a couple of minor revolts had sparked in the area, and the soldiers started to question the village for any suspicious characters to be wary about.

Bhediya's father was instantly considered a possible threat, but not because of his transformation being revealed (it wasn't, and that makes the whole situation even the most disappointing), but because of how much of a hermit he had turned into after his wife had died by childbirth.

His father sacrificed his chances of survival to see younger werewolf to be hauled to the closest main port and sent away from India. While it sounded so odd for it to be a good reason to exile so far away a young child, the real motivation behind the sudden trip was related to the last wish from the man.

He had wanted to see his son grow away from the place that gave him the most pain, and to be sent in a place where he would become a good man.

Great Britain was the viable destination, mostly because it would've been easier to explain why an Indian boy had ended up in such a place so suddenly.

Two years went by and the long-haired teen learned much from the streets of London. It was around this period of time that he ended up meeting with Sarah.

The story from this point onward is quite… fuzzy. Or rather, it wasn't left to many details as the previous bits because Bhediya didn't feel sure about giving up this much important information to a 'stranger'.

While Jojo and him hit it off pretty well, there was still a lingering sense of distrust born from living in poverty. I didn't push him to talk, as I couldn't see a reason to do that.

I didn't need to rush him or anything, and I knew that pressing my luck around him now that he was in the headquarters could create some unneeded tension between my other workers.

And I wouldn't want to make my own chances of success slimmer because of that.

Still, the most important bit was that Jonathan was growing more accepting of this reality. He looked fairly influenced by the encounters, having become a good friend with the 'children-beloved' Speedwagon.

I was still surprised that the blond was actually someone that had a good way to entertain kids, but I guess that's part of his jovial charisma. He is a good man with rough manners and a blunt personality.

He was very far from becoming Part 2's Speedwagon, and I sure as hell was going to keep the memories of 'young upstart Speedwagon' saved up for some future teasing.

And while Jojo had kept particularly tense while speaking with his father about the usual topics, he seemed to have realized that keeping up some open opposition at the imperialistic tendencies of the British Empire was going to do more harm than good to him and his cause. Especially with his own father barring him the chances to make a stand for himself over the matter.

Quite dreadful that he was literally having rebellious ideas that could easily screw George's contracts with other merchants if news got out. Hopefully the old Joestar knows how to bribe people to keep quiet.

I don't know if Jonathan had also managed to speak with Erina about this very topic. The young Joestar had been keeping quiet about that front as of now, and I really wasn't sure if that should be a good thing or not.

Maybe he hadn't told her, but considering how close they were and how many times they would meet each week, I wouldn't be surprised that the girl was now aware of this and much more.

But if Mr. Pendleton had yet to knock at our door and demand explanations about his daughter's mind getting polluted by some 'silly gentlemanish fool', then there was a high chance she hadn't told her father anything.

Still, while I knew that the blonde was way more careful in keeping sensible topics away from conversations with specific people, I would imagine that the love she had for her father would hold her from lying to him under enough pressure.

But the real issue now wasn't Jojo, Erina, or anyone else. In fact, while I knew that I had to keep an eye for any attacks from Wang Chan, I wasn't certainly allow myself to slack over my chances of improving my combat prowess.

Now that I had gained a decent mastery of the imperfect Spin and an adequate level of Hamon training, I saw it important to finally focus on something I had tried to avoid up until now.

I needed to bring out my Stand and get my capacity to fight in close quarters heightened by the 'assisting spirit'.

Muddiburi was initially perplexed when I first brought up the existence of Stands. He started mentioning how it all reminded him of possessions and malicious spirits, things that were terrible and bad in his limited death list. He was hard to convince at first, but after listening to my assurances that it wasn't such a thing and that Hamon would've worked to purge any evil entity already, the man seemed to grow more accepting of this concept.

And even more interested on the matter by the various questions he had given for me to answer back quickly and readily.

Still, the problem persisted.

Even with the fact that I had someone as experienced in the world of the spiritual as Muddiburi, the task before us was a tedious and difficult one. How was I supposed to bring out something that wasn't known to anyone but… me?

I wasn't sure if the Monk could've actually see the Stand if it ended up revealed, and there wasn't much told about 'how to bring out a Stand' in the Jojo lore.

"Simple meditation will not do," Muddiburi confirmed with a sigh. "What you're describing is something that transcend the enlightenment many Masters would be capable of attaining through devoted predication to the Buddha."

I blinked at his comment, and frowned at the way he had phrased this analysis. "Do you have something that could help?"

A smile replaced the thin line made by his lips, and he nodded as he brought out from his bag several ingredients and tools to create… something.

I stared as the tall man went through quite the interesting process, quietly waiting for him to be done as I watched over the careful but still quick-paced operation.

The end result was quite… unexpected.

The possible solution manifested in the form of a potion created by the Tibetan Monk.

A concoction created with ancient herbs and other spices coming from his shop, either among the items sold by him or even kept from public eye for important circumstances. I wasn't sure if this counted as a drug or not, but then again I wasn't going to reach deep within myself by merely drinking water.

Taking a brief sigh while grasping carefully at the steamy cup filled with the dark-brown liquid, I tried my best to hide my grimace at whatever monstrosity was bubbling in that container.

The smell was already getting me a little bit dizzy, and I quickly realized that what I was holding was one of the most powerful sedative one could've asked from antiquity.

Gulping nervously, I mustered up my cynical bravery to lift up the cup… only to be stopped by Muddiburi.

The man regaled me with a serious look. "Before you go, you need to know that what you're searching for might be guarded," He explained with a calm tone. "Many men had gone through the trial imposed by this potion, but only a handful had returned in a single piece… both mentally and physically."

I wonder how many individuals actually died through this 'trial'. Muddiburi didn't say anything about deaths, but to lose my mind or even suffer through some physical crippling wasn't just acceptable.

And while I had my own reservations about going through with this challenge, I knew that this was the best way to unlock my Stand at the moment. And whatever will come out of it, may it be** ｢The World｣** or even something inferior, I still needed to try.

I couldn't falter now that I could make more steps toward my final objective. Not now.

"I will not back away from the chances of bringing out my potential," I replied with a sense of pride. "It might sound like greed, but I'm fairly certain of my aim. I will not step away from this trial."

"You might lose yourself," The monk continued to explain, his hold over my right hand tightening a little bit. "Would you risk it all for the chance of finding your secret ability."

I was tense, a little paler on my already-pale complex… but I wasn't showing anything that could suggest reluctance over my current decision.

It was now or never. I will probably face worse odds that these, and I couldn't certainly bow down at the first hint of deadly danger.

"I would. My world for **｢The World｣**," I rebuked earnestly. "That's the truest exchange one would commit to for the step meant to bring the best in their life."

He shook his head, but instead of a scowl, the man gave me a tired smile.

"Once again, you remind me that you're not the normal person," He pointed out with a sigh. "Truly impressive. I would dare to say you're the most bizarre Hamon user just yet. I wonder what height will you reach once you truly find what you're searching for."

"I find those words… flattering," I admitted with a hint of smug, and soon I was diving my head down to the cup to sip by its edge.

Just as I had expected, the liquid was unpleasant to drink, and the presence of unknown herbs influenced my mind into finding more disgust in that uncertainty. Still, I did it and I drank all of it without breaking a single moment away from the cup.

Blinking as I retreated my lips away from the cup, I found myself frowning over the fact that I wasn't feeling sleepy. In fact, I felt the most awake in a long time. Even more than I had been thanks to constant Hamon usage.

I turned to look at Muddiburi, showing utter confusion at the opposite reaction I had expected from drinking that concoction, and I was half convinced that he had switched it with some odd-flavored coffee.

But before I had the chance to speak up about this suspicion, I found my legs going numb. The feeling was sudden, and it was growing the more I looked at it.

It continued to spread across above my knee, above my thighs, and right in my arms and back. I crumbled backward, my wide eyes struggling to keep awake and stable but… then it was the turn of my head and mind to fall before the potion.

Darkness enveloped me, and I found my consciousness faltering into nothingness…

_**And then I, Dio, blinked awake while standing on a flight of stairs.**_

-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-

It took me just a moment to realize that this wasn't real and that I was currently staying in what I could depict only as my mindscape.

...

Glancing around, I tried to make sense of my surroundings and I couldn't help but feel clueless about where the heck I ended up into. A small light barely illuminated the paths that led upstairs and downstairs, but it wasn't enough to provide me with proper hints of where I ended up into.

Why would I be thinking of this place when connecting to my inner self? Why was this place important to me? And why I was feeling this much… tense.

Something was staring at me, and I finally took notice of the smoke trails descending from a couple of steps above me. And my eyes followed those back right to the lone individual standing there, watching from above with an unflinching stare directed at me.

Even with his visage half-shadowed, I knew exactly what I was going to face to unlock my Stand and… I snorted.

"Seriously? You're the one that is guarding my full potential?" I inquired dryly. "You know, I would've expected… Jotaro. Heck, even Jonathan would've made sense with the whole fact I'm supposed to be the main villain to this story."

"You're nothing but a bunch of senseless lies," DIO commented back with a calm tone. "Something unworthy of my presence, but sadly enough, someone needs to be there to make sure you don't usurp what isn't yours to take."

I frowned at his words, but my smile didn't falter. "Is that so? Then please, enlighten me- Do you feel happy that in the end you had to steal Jonathan's body to become what you are now?"

"A tragic development, but one that I don't see reason to explain right at you, impostor," The blond stated coldly. "In fact, the only thing you deserve is utter silence. You've defiled the true essence of heaven to promote a 'reformation' of a long-gone world."

I tilted my head to the side. "Oh oh? Already accepting defeat before a challenge? Are you sure that you're something beyond my consciousness playing trick at me?"

"It depends on your impudence. If you keep up with this annoying travesty, I shall show you my mercy by shattering your jaws," DIO responded quickly. "But instead, let's indulge for a moment about your pitiful plans- the things you wish to bring forth thanks to my charisma and power."

"Those are no longer yours to begin with," I rebuked fiercely. "If you hadn't noticed, my name is Dio Brando, not DIO. I'm not the megalomaniac that wished to take everything from everyone."

"A flimsy excuse to reject the reality of your situation," He commented sternly. "I know we're both above making this kind of mistakes during a dialogue- just like you should merely accept the fact that the true driving force is DIO, not the farce you wish was real."

"Hard to call me a leech when you yourself deny the fact that you're one," I shot back, hinting once more at Jonathan's body. "At least I didn't spent the first few days with this body staring aimlessly at my new naked appearance."

…

"And I really feel the need to ask- did you stare at JoJo's body because you were trying to cope with the fact you hijacked the body of the man that smacked you left and right even as a vampire, or are you perhaps harboring more than just tha-"

I blinked in surprise as I noticed that I had 'somehow' taken a few steps closer to DIO. The blond was now sitting by a chair that had 'mysteriously' appeared right at the end of the stairs, a familiar book resting by his lap.

He was staring harshly at me, but I could notice a sliver of amusement bathing his features. He was waiting for a reaction and- that shouldn't be something my consciousness would just allow.

I sighed, my amusement simmering down as I got a clear look of what was going on.

This wasn't an obstacle created by my mind. It was way too advanced for it to be born from my subconscious.

"Fun trick, but I really have this question now," I hummed quietly. "Who put you in here to stop me from acquiring **｢The World｣**?"

He blinked, a hint of surprise painting his face. "That sounds interesting… how did you realize?"

"There are details that my mind can't replicate about the original DIO," I confessed without hesitation. "And you're just too unique to copy to this flawless degree."

"Flattering words but-" He paused, his frown deepening as I turned around and started to walk downstairs. "Where do you think you're going? Are you already disrespecting me even though you're aware of my true presence?"

"Of course not, _Lord DIO_," I muttered sarcastically. "It's not like I could ever be disrespectful towards you. And it's not like I'm actually walking downstairs so I can bring down down the entire palace and reveal your pathetic self before the scorching sun waiting outside… _just as I willed it to be beyond these walls_."

He stood up, a snarl replacing his scowl and I finally saw it. **｢The World｣** was bulkier than I expected it to be. I guess Part 3 DIO remained unchanged in the 'retconned' appearances in Part 5 for the Stand to be this… thickly-muscled.

"Is this what you did to Polnareff back then?" I inquired giddily, hoping that my little plan to unlock my own Stand would work. "You made him bow his head despite his hatred for you. He was a chewtoy for the mutt you are… and now you're but a playtoy for the little puppy that I am."

"You will regret this and much more, counterfeit!" DIO exclaimed furiously. "Take a strike from my Stand!"

I turned swiftly bringing up my hands to intercept the swift punch rushing right at me. The emotionless figure let out a furious 'MUDA' and I felt my entire body rock despite how much Hamon was coursing thorough my being. But I wasn't trying to block the unquestionably strong fist, but to get a 'taste' of what I was supposed to fight and… make mine.

Something resonated as the power behind the attack threw me backward and into the wall behind me and… just as dust and smoke exploded in the small crater I had created with my impact, I realized that I hadn't suffered any damage.

This sensation was just the same I had felt back when I had stopped Bhediya from attacking his own sister and… it was more intense than back then. It was burning, almost quivering eagerly at being finally primed out of my body.

And I saw it take form starting from two arms that matched with my own. With a frame matching up with mine, its body was made of a mix of metal, roots and vines, creating a contrast of gray and green. Its face was hidden in a gray mask with golden details and… orange GE-like eyes burning brightly through the darkness.

The figure finally passed through my body and manifested in front of me in a defensive manner.

I smiled, at the full materialization, but my eagerness was cut short as I saw DIO staring at us from quite close.

"You called upon your Stand by matching the effect of** ｢The World｣**'s punch to your previous taste with its manifestation," He analyzed quietly, a hint of fascination drowning away his hatred just for a moment. "Interesting- but hardly something that will wash away the taint your mere existence bring to my name."

Sighing, I shrugged. "I guess it will be… a game of tag!"

He looked perplexed, but my Stand was already on the move.

Slamming its elbow by the wall behind me, more dust exploded between me and DIO, and I quickly took this chance to dive down and avoid a barrage of swift 'MUDA's from **｢The World｣**.

"Cheap tricks will hardly save you from my wrath!" The Vampire snarled, giving me chase as I proceeded to rush away down that flight of stairs and into the multiple hallways that made up this entire building.

It was only the two of us, and I knew I had to capitalize on the lack of DIO's servants to put an end to the bastard. I wasn't Jotaro, and I was well aware that my new Stand couldn't match with the in terms of raw power.

But just like any other humanoid Stands, mine had something that DIO was forgetting. And said forgetfulness was soon going to manifest in his downfall.

He could easily wait and reach up to me considering that had to have a speed higher than mine… but the chances of gloating were endless and-

"**｢The World｣**! Stop Time!"

_And I froze up in the middle of my escape._ But not entirely.

My mind had somehow resisted the effects of DIO'S Stand, and I was perfectly aware of what was happening around me. Maybe my Stand had indeed an affinity about time and I was immune to the full effects of **｢The World｣**.

I listened to the approaching footsteps, the noise echoing across the empty halls of this mansion.

"What a childish attempt, I would've thought you beyond this little dilly-dallying," DIO commented placidly. "But I guess discovering your Stand might have dulled your mind to the point you ended up like this. So useless..."

He hummed, drawing closer before walking beyond me and standing right in front of me.

"How do I dispose of you and take over?" He pondered out loud. "I could break your neck, or I could drink your blood… but then would that kill you properly? Or would it just send you back in the land of the living?"

_I need to move. He's close and… distracted. I can throw a single punch, I know I can and… that wouldn't be enough. He's not in my proper range for me to reach his weak points._

"I suppose we will settle this the same way I ended Joseph. Maybe I should make sure the knife plunges deep in your throat and render any chances of deflecting it."

I saw the silver of the dagger soaring, aiming at below my chin before it stopped in the immobile time. The closeup of the dangerous approach was enough to lock my attention onto it.

If I hit it in time, I could get a distraction at DIO by throwing it back at him. Just a small window of opportunity to land a single hit.

"Three, two, one and-"

_Now!_

I reached for the dagger, grasping at its hilt as the Time-Stop ended. Quickly throwing at DIO, I rushed at him, my hands crackling in hamon as I prepared to deliver another trick at him.

But this one isn't as cheap as the previous one. Of that I could guarantee without hesitation.

"A frontal assault? I suppose your desperation doesn't have any limits," The blonde shook his head as he casually slammed the dagger away and** ｢The World｣** brought in front of him to cover himself.

"WRYYYyyyy!" My Stand cry roared furiously as the figure barraged **｢The World｣** with multiple quick punches. It wasn't anything compared to ｢Star Platinum｣'s beating, but it was enough to distract DIO for the real attack.

"Pathetic. Useless. Mudamudamuda-gah!" He was preparing to deliver his counterattack, but his attention was caught on another front that had been left untouched.

Numerous bubbles had slammed by his right leg, the one that had still resisted him despite his best efforts to fully assimilate Jonathan's body.

"W-WHAT?! HOW- HOW DARE Y- YOUHH?"

His breath was drove short as I used the opportunity to finally defeat him in a single blow.

It was something I had always thought about back when I saw Joseph trying to fight DIO. The vampire had shown the weary protagonist that he was still afraid of Hamon, but his fright was lessened by the fact that **｢The World｣** seemed to be immune to it.

But right now that he was exposed for me to attack with trying to** ｢The World｣** fix his wounds by pushing his leg together? I had the perfect idea to end him without much of an effort.

Gut punching DIO's with my little finger raised up, I pressed deep enough to reach his diaphragm.

My smile widened at the confused look on DIO's face.

"This, _Lord _DIO, is how your rival activated his Hamon," I explained as I started to pour my energy through the opening. "And now, it's time for you to learn about the Ripple a little more than just a couple of punches and sword's hits."

He reached out for me, panic swelled in his face but it was too late for him to do anything to me.

The sudden rush of Hamon activated Jonathan's damaged and dormant reserves, 'awakening' the body temporarily as to disrupt DIO's control over it.

"NononoNONONONONONONO!" His entire self was cracking in a bright light and I chuckled at the sight. "I-I'M DIO-"

"And I'm Dio Brando, the true claimant to the Heavens," I stated furiously, unleashing my Stand one last time. Bravely standing over my defeated opponent, I went on to claim true victory! "It's time to end him once and for all. Go, **｢The World｣**!"

But just as I pronounced its name and the beating began, I couldn't help but feel like I had called him the wrong way. No, it was something like I was forgetting about something and… this troubled me once more.

Why, why didn't it like its proper name? Why I felt refused just for how I formulated it?

"WRYYYyyy!"

DIO was decimated before my eyes, the combination of punches and degradation brought him to his ultimate demise. I stared as his body shattered like grains of fine dust.

My eyes were at my Stand, the figure turning to look at me… looking slightly annoyed and confused.

And in that stare… I found clarity. I found a name and… I found new confusion.

"You are… **｢The World… ACT1｣**?"

The beginning of a long evolutionary chain. The first step of the mightiest Stand ever. One that could probably become more powerful than the original, than **｢The World｣** and more than** ｢The World: Over Heaven｣**.

"WRYYYyyy!" He roared, this time in a display of pure happiness and agreement.

I blinked, confused if not mesmerized by the reaction I was being given by my Stand. Sure it looks more active than **｢The World｣** but… then again, it wasn't bad to have a highly-receptive Stand.

"Do you mind if I call you **｢ACT1｣** for short? We need to be active on the battlefield, and the full name is quite mouthful."

It shook his head and… I smiled at the positive response. "Then I guess we're whole once again."

A final nod and soon the entire place was engulfed in bright white light.

I felt the need to wake up and… I did.

**The world started to make sense as I wake up and… **I felt a strange weight on my chest caused by a whining dog now settled over my poor chest and a concerned Jonathan looking down at me with a concerned look.

"D-Dio- you're alive?!"

I sighed at the comment before glancing around, stopping only to settle my stare on Muddiburi as the monk looked back at me with some surprise and… admiration. Despite the positive reaction, I gave him a solid glare as I quickly realized what was going on.

"You didn't tell them."

It wasn't a question, but an affirmation that I knew was true.

The man didn't speak back and rather settled with quite the unusual but most infuriating reply.

The Tibetan Monk offered a shrug.

_**I, Dio, groaned for what was going to be a painful explanation session and several minutes to try and get the two boys to calm down.**_

_**...At least, now I had **__**｢**__**ACT1**__**｣ **__**to rely on.**_

* * *

**AN**

**STANDO POWER! **

**While I understand many are going to throw some critical comment at how 'easily' DIO was disposed, I wish to remind you all that the reason why he proved to be troublesome to the Joestar group was: **  
**1) Nobody knew what was his Stand (it was discovered later on in the adventure); **  
**2) Nobody knew about his Stand's power (only thanks to Kakyoin's sacrifice they realized which it was); **  
**3) Jotaro fought only with** **｢Star Platinum｣, and if he had been trained in Hamon, DIO would've been killed earlier on;**  
**4) DIO is arrogant, and he needs to be punched with a reality check to understand if a situation is bad or not.**

**And now… some stats!**

**｢The World: ACT1｣**

**Destructive Power: B**  
**Speed: B**  
**Range: E (Two Meters)**  
**Durability: D**  
**Precision: C**  
**Potential: B**

**And now… An Omake!**

* * *

**Omake 10: The hassle of being a loving leader**

* * *

It was a slow day at the headquarters, and I was happily taking my time in reading through the endless tower of paper that was supposedly my paperwork.

Delegating this much hard work had sounded like a good idea the first time around, but then the paperwork tripled overnight and I still found myself drowning in so many reports, letters from admirers, and business efforts.

The office was relatively quiet, with just a handful of the noises happening outside reaching through the walls, only to be barely perceived with how muffled the sound was.

Scribbling left and right, either approving and dismissing the documents occupying a large section of my desk, I barely noticed that the door was being slowly opened by someone.

I blinked calmly, turning just a moment away from the papers when I finally saw the familiar figure that was Hannah making her way towards me.

In a normal circumstance, the young woman would have a tired, but still cheerful smile plastered on her face. It was just her usual way to show that while the work was tough, she was still managing through with little to no issues thanks to her determination.

But now her face was displaying a perplexed look as she delved deeper in the office. She stopped right in front of the desk, her eyes alternating between me and a little lower, and I could see that she was trying to visualize beyond the stack of documents on the desk.

"Dio," Hannah muttered with a cautious tone. "I wish to speak with you… privately."

Sporting a surprised look, I frowned at the woman. "Did something bad happen?"

She shook her head. "Not truly. No," The girl admitted with a tight voice. "But I wish to talk about a situation that I think is… problematic."

My confusion was increasing the more she was speaking, and I gave a quick blink before slowly nodding at her.

"Sure, I suppose we can talk about this if you truly think it's a concern-"

"In private," She interjected with an unexpected degree of vehemence. "I wish to speak about this in private."

It took me a couple of seconds to realize what she was implying with her comment. I stared down, right on my lap… and right to where a certain 'dog' was happily resting all curled and asking for more head-scratching.

"You don't want Bhediya to stay here for this conversation?"

The werewolf quickly understood what was happening, his head tilting to glance at the woman with a confused look as she let out a sigh and a nod.

"It's quite urgent and..." There was a pause, then an irked huff and… Hannah looked partially annoyed. "Dio, I wish to speak about the fact you've been treating Bhediya as a pet."

…

"Beg your pardon, Hannah, but what do you mean?" I inquired with immense confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Right now you're treating him like a domesticated dog," The woman pointed out dryly. "And while I understand that you're not by any mean selfish or trying to do anything devious with any of us, I feel like this turn of events might be… a tad bit creepy."

I leaned back, and Bhediya's furred frame moved out of my lap. "Do you truly think so?"

She nodded and I found myself sighing.

"I mean, I can see your point. I guess it's quite awkward to see someone getting treated like that but..." I turned to look at the werewolf, now morphing back in his human form while sporting quite the annoyed look. "It was Bhediya that asked me for this."

…

"Beg your pardon, Dio… but what?"

I sighed again, but it was the other boy to speak.

"I asked Dio if I could've stayed in his office while Sarah is sleeping," He explained curtly. "I just decided to ask him if he would've minded if I decided to rest by his lap. I know it's odd but… it wasn't like he was planning to treat me like a dog."

I nodded in agreement to his words. "I wasn't doing anything that would have him dehumanized, I know that it is quite the strong issue with him."

He smiled at my kindness, but Hannah didn't allow for silence to finally return.

"But… But isn't that too much?" She asked with a frown. "I know that you've mentioned multiple times that you care for us as close friends but… isn't that exaggerating?"

"How so?"

…

"Hannah?"

"It's just… do the others know about this?" She pressed on the topic and I nodded.

"Speedwagon is aware. In fact, he noticed Bhediya almost too instantly during our daily chess game," I pointed out while turning to the long-haired teen. The boy had a scowl on his face at the mere mentioning of the blond. "Still haven't figured out a way to get these two to actually treat each other neutrally."

"He says I smell odd, and he keeps saying that his hat tricks aren't cheap. But they are and-"

"Daily chess game?"

We both stared at the young woman, her eyes widening once again at this detail.

"Yes, Robert and I do take some of our free time to play chess in the office," I commented calmly. "I think it's just a little before Sarah wakes up from her nap, because I would usually take her around the district to teach her a little bit about London."

There was a questionable degree of shock, confusion, irritation, understanding, and even more confusion.

"You… you actually spend time with people other than during work and… the lessons?"

I nodded, and she closed her eyes. Was she trying to calm down by adjusting her breathing? It looked to be the case and… why did she look this much angry?

"So, does that mean that, if you were free and I asked you for a walk to the bar you wouldn't-"

"I wouldn't mind if I'm free," I concluded for her, answering her query in the process.

Her irritation melted in genuine fascination at this variable and I felt the need to shiver a little at the big smile enveloping her face.

"Are you… free today?" She finally asked and I sighed.

"I guess I can spare an hour-"

I stopped the moment I saw her blur out of the room, slamming the door closed while her happy and rambunctious blitz across the headquarters could be heard despite the newly-created distance.

I glanced at Bhediya and the boy shrugged. "I think you've made a mistake."

A mistake?

While I knew that Hannah could become rather excited when she spends time with me, I don't see much of a reason to brace for any unexpected escalations other than hugging and giggling.

Maybe I hadn't noticed something new about her? Or maybe the circumstances that were bringing her this much giddiness were enough to warrant a greater reaction out of her?

So many questions and… so little time to spare to those with how much paper had yet to be checked upon.

With silence slowly returning to the room, Bhediya saw it fit to finally switch back to his wolf form and return to my lap.

Humming quietly as I resumed with my initial tasks, I failed to terribly understand the full spectrum of damage I might have inflicted to my free time that I would get while in there.

_**And I, Dio, would also learn that Hannah would become quite chatty in what I had miserably labeled 'friendly hangouts'.**_

* * *

**AN**

**Lord Dio-Sama can be so considerate, and so dense. But it's Dio, and Hannah might have much to learn from fighting the denseness this early on in her ambitions.**

**May she find success in her road, and that nothing wrong happen to her or to her Lord Dio-Sama!**


	16. Giovinezza (15)

**DISCLAIMER**

**The following is a fan-based**

**FICTION**

**All Parts of the JJBA are all owned by Hirohiko Araki. **

**Please Support the Official Release!**

* * *

**Capitolo Primo: Giovinezza (15)**

* * *

Two day passed quickly as we all continued to train in our newest objectives.

Bhediya was the first one to tap in the Ripple, but he was also the one to find more trouble in controlling the energy with how dense his understanding of the technique was. I also blamed the connection to nature for how wild his usage of Hamon was while exercising even the simplest of abilities.

JoJo was unsurprisingly decent with his understanding of the Ripple. Compared to the Original Timeline, his Hamon wasn't intense and powerful enough to become the strongest Ripple User, but his current standing was well beyond others his age.

Especially when his comprehension of tragedy was still limited and restrained by the lack of major losses in his life. Hopefully, that wasn't going to happen to him with how carefully I've handled the current threats.

Wang Chan might have made a power move by acquiring the Stone Mask from under my nose, but any opportunities like that weren't going to ever happen in the future. Planning out how the man's mind worked, or at least what I knew from the few encounter I had with him, I was quite certain that any attempt to infiltrate the Joestar Manor would only result in a painful capture for the bastard.

Still, despite my best effort to track down both him and Jack, I found my hands empty of any possible hints where the duo was hiding.

I wasn't even sure if Jack was collaborating with the Chinese man or not, but I had a distinct suspect that this might be the case from the way the Ripper's streak intensified and escalated after just a couple of days the mask had been stolen.

And while I had been careful enough to ward myself from any 'human' infiltration, I was unsure how the measures would work against either an undead or a vampire.

Jack ended up turning in a terrible monster when he was turned in a zombie, and I could only shiver at the thought of how problematic he would become if he indeed was turned in a blood-sucker.

I was patient enough to not allow any opening. Any risk taken during my activities were to be guarded either personally or with a trusted group of people that I knew would've been able to assist in an eventual ambush.

It would be a lie to say that Jack didn't think of me as a mysterious prey that needed to be 'discovered' and then ripped apart. He was conscious that the battle would still be costly, but the enticing fact that was danger itself would surely prove to be enough of a treat for someone like the famous serial killer.

I didn't expect any less from his mind, if not even more considering how his human logic had to have deteriorated by entering in contact with the mask. Both as a zombie or as a vampire, the chances that he had actually preserved notions of intelligence were none.

I was going to face an assassin driven by bloodlust, curiosity and maliciousness.

Was it going to be easy?

Things never are and… I had other topics that drove me away from giving the utmost attention on the matter.

Like how Speedwagon had finally managed to get in contact with the Forty Elephants Gang.

Truly an elusive group of people, but one that I now had an exchange with and I wasn't planning to turn up late.

Which is why, despite some surprise from the rest of the group at my decision to bring only Hannah with me, I ended up turning to a particularly uneven disposition of sides.

While I had been rather 'frugal' with my decision, the leader of the all-female Crime Syndicate had well imagined that it wouldn't have been nice from her part from excluding members from coming.

So when we turned up for the event, I ended up facing a large number of curious, annoyed, or even angry women.

Not a good way to start this morning, I thought absently as I waited patiently for the leader to arrive at the lone table of this humongous warehouse.

The lady was particularly 'progressive' considering the way her hair had been cut short for the sake of practicality from the way she hid those under a hat. She was wearing what looked to be an expensive dress, nothing too cumbersome for her to move with but also nothing that someone of her social status should've been able to get hold onto in a legal exchange.

She was smiling, mirthfully so as she glanced at me like a panther does to a baby antelope.

"You're Dio Brando," The woman mused quietly before taking a seat. "I was expecting someone more… mature considering the imposing nature of your name."

I shrugged. "I'm working on it, Madam."

She snorted. "I doubt you will ever reach that point with how brazen you're being by presenting yourself with such a small escort," The lady then gave a malicious grin at Hannah. "Especially when said escort is just a fragile wench you found around."

I closed my eyes, hoping that Hannah wasn't in the mood to jump at people just yet. I was irritated myself by that little jab, but I knew better from behaving childishly.

So I blinked, glancing at the leader of the Forty Elephants and… smiled.

"That's rather presumptuous from your part, Madam," I commented with a calm voice. "Not only I'm being willing to concede kindness to the fact you're being rude by not offering a name, but you're also going as far as insult a close friend of mine. I thought this was a diplomatic meeting, not an exchange of petty insults."

…

She shook her head. "Despite the disadvantage you've been put into, you still find the gall to try and get equal treatment? Don't you fear a quick death, boy?"

My smile grew at that question. "Always. But so do everyone in London nowadays. At least those that don't have some shiny guards to defend their hides."

Finally, a small smile appeared on her face.

"Yet you're dressing like someone in need of guards right now," The woman rebuked mirthfully. "Isn't that ironic? Or perhaps you're jesting by wearing these fancy clothes?"

"Circumstances led me away of the streets just a few months ago," I replied truthfully. "I would dare to say it was a fortuitous development, but still one that set me in the capacity to actually make a difference instead of going through the bureaucratic mess that exist in this nation."

"Charity will hardly make the difference, boy," She mused dryly. "You either become a thief, or you just don't. There is no means to be kind and expect the world to be kind in return."

Allowing a confused look to appear on my visage, I blinked perplexed.

"I think your opinion is bleaker than how reality is."

Curiosity exploded at my words and the woman sighed. "Maybe, or maybe you're just too far from seeing the truth of things, boy."

"I've lived in the slums for fourteen years. It was a miracle that I lived beyond the ten years of age," I started with a serious voice. "I didn't just 'see', but I also experienced the squalor. I saw what the newspapers prefer to hide behind bigger news of the world."

"And you still wish to make the difference by being kind to others?"

"Kindness with moderation. I understand that becoming excessively generous would only favor a worse situation that there is now," I confessed. "Which is why I also offer work for those that wish for. Work that ends up favoring me in the long-term state of things, and enough to warrant some bountiful rewards out of it."

…

"_Like buying that filthy wench?_" One of the women inquired giddily, prompting a loud session of giggles and laughs from the rest of the group.

I could tell that Hannah was starting to lose control over her temper, and I couldn't exactly blame her for that.

I knew that the gangs in this time period were more of circuses that had an easy life because of how faulty laws were… but the Forty Elephants weren't facing police officers. And I was going to make an example out of this slight.

"Can you please step forward then if you think so?" I asked back with a dry tone. "If you believe this to be the case, then I don't see why you should be hiding behind others."

The leader looked surprised at my response. "It was just a joke-"

"It was a slight," I muttered politely. "The first one if I try to label your first effort as one."

That managed to silence her out as I returned my attention from where the 'joke' originated. The young woman that appeared looked to be hardly older than Hannah. She had this cocky smile that just screamed of foolishness.

Sighing, I offered her a fascinated look. "Do you believe what you just said, or perhaps you wish to apologize?"

Instead of responding at once, she merely grinned like a dumbass and then delivered another 'joke'.

"I'm willing to apologize to your whore of a mother."

…

Surprisingly enough, nobody reacted happily at that remark. It was a touch too far, and I could see some reluctance at the lack of a good reaction from the rest of the gang.

Even the instigator looked particularly surprised by this… but I decided to humor her myself.

"Well, then I suppose you should be coming to the graveyard with me. After all, my mother's remaining are still in the coffin where those had been left when she died."

I smiled, my lips twitching at the uneasiness spreading across the room. Everyone couldn't tell that I was just playing with them.

All except for Hannah. She was surprised by the way I was handling this, but she seemed more interest to see what I was going to do from this point onward.

"Did I do something wrong?" I questioned the lady. "Did I perhaps go to far with my joke? Maybe we can start anew with an even funnier topic-"

"Y-You think this is funny, you stupid brat?!" She exclaimed, bursting in a brief bubble of anger. "I can understand feeling aggravated- but to use your deceased mother as a starting point for such a response is-"

"Disgusting?" I suggested quietly. "Appalling? A slight against someone that can't exactly defend themselves out of unexpected conditions?"

She looked ready to jump at this, but then froze as she ultimately realized what I was referring to.

It was easy to protect the sanctity of someone that is dead, but it's clearly unneeded when someone that is alive is actually subjected to it.

I was about to press on this advantage since I couldn't do much other than exploit what was exploitable from within that instance, but then I noticed something shining in the dark.

Something that was softly hissing and approaching me quickly.

A knife. It was thrown with precise aim and careful strength as to not make the projectile loud enough to catch Hannah's attention. The girl turned the same moment that I did, her eyes widening in a brief panic as she saw my eased posture before the incoming threat.

She tried to move, or at least move my chair away from the trajectory, but I didn't budge

Instead, I smiled and-

"**｢ACT 1｣**."

I decided against shouting out my Stand's name, allowing for the being to form without alerting the already 'surprised' women about what was going to happen next.

The dagger continued with its approach, shining more and more as the light reflected on its body and…

...

Then it stopped.

Shock enveloped the room as the scene itself was utterly ridiculous. None could see the anything holding that knife in that position, only that it was stuck mid-air.

But then again, that consideration was also wrong.

The dagger wasn't stuck mid-air. It was stuck mid-_time._

After I had managed to unlock **｢The World: ACT 1｣**, I worked to carefully understand what kind of ability the current state would allow me to use.

It wasn't the Time-Stop, but I already had a hunch that it would've been too much of a stretch if I had unlocked that powerful ability with this first phase of my Stand.

Instead of being able to stop time for everything, my ability was limited to stop a single object or entity within time itself. And while this also sounded terribly powerful considering that there wasn't much of a drawback behind stopping objects of various sizes, there was still the issue that the usage of such power needed part of my lifeforce to work.

The concept had been mentioned just barely by Jotaro about his lacking capacity to use **｢Star Platinum: The World｣**, but I was fairly sure that my chances of grasping at my limits are bettered by my understanding of Hamon.

Hamon also made use of lifeforce, but while this process was 'smoother' and less unpleasant considering how refined my control was, the same wasn't for my Stand's power.

I could hold an object like the knife now in front of me for just a full minute before I started to grasp for air. Considering that a day earlier I had been capable of stopping a smaller object for that amount of time, I was quite sure that I was growing more accustomed to the upkeep the more I used **｢ACT 1｣**.

But returning to the present, I carefully snatched the knife out of its time-freeze. Then I settled it on the table after giving it a quick twirl with my fingers.

I stared at the leader, almost feeling the need to exert my smugness at how shocked the woman looked to be. Jaws dropping low and eyes going wide open at that absurd phenomenon, I sighed.

"Up until now, I've shown you my mercy and my kindness. I offered you all the chances you needed to behave like civil individuals considering the circumstances that bring us here," I started with a weary tone. "I tried to ignore your playful manners, I tried to stand by your own rules, only to be rebuked with quite the violent reaction."

I stood up from my chair, and they all tensed up at the action.

"The reason why I came here is to offer you all the chance to be legally paid and well-supported by turning you all in the first professional private mail system," I explained calmly, ignoring the chilling silence I had willingly created. "I wished to extend friendship and an alliance that would turn you all away from the dangers of dealing with the law, to allow your families to be safe from the dangers your current line of work create. I still wish a response about this very offer as I know that I shocked you well enough to think twice before stepping on me. I will not condone any other cases of 'joking' while in my presence."

I turned to Hannah, giving her a nod as I turned and started to walk away from the table, with the girl walking beside me.

"W-Wait! What about that answer you said you wanted?"

I stopped, glancing at the leader as she was finally standing up in the tensest and most worried of postures.

"Your name. What is your name?" I inquired blankly, causing her to gulp nervously.

"I-I'm- My name is Elyse, milord."

I sighed as she curtsied to me. "Dio will suffice. I'm no nobleman," I stated with a nod. "And Elyse, you may offer your answer to Speedwagon when you're sure your group is convinced of your decision. I will offer you a full week."

I said before glancing back at the entrance-

"W-What happens after that?"

…

"You will be ignored," I promised genuinely. "If you refuse my offer and keep away from my way, then I will spare you. But become my enemy and I will annihilate you."

I didn't bother lingering any further, finally pacing out of the building and back in the streets. I kept quiet for a while, just enough to make some space between us and the warehouse before I decided to consult Hannah.

"What do you think?"

She offered me a surprised look. Maybe she hadn't expected for me to inquire about her opinion over the matter, but I was pretty much unsure over the little 'crack of whip' I gave on the meeting.

I could've gone a little bit far with my escalation. Maybe there would've been other ways to humble the Forty Elephants instead of going for that crude resolution.

"It- It was amazing," She almost tripped with her own words, making me look at her with an intrigued look. "Dio- I hope you understand that while I know you can be decisive when you want, that this was the cementing proof that you're meant to go far. It was… It was mesmerizing."

She looked dreamy, and I felt the need of facepalming as she snapped out of it to blush at my staring.

I might have worked hard and well to curb her devotion to me to something a little more bearable. But then again, she sure still hold some interest beyond mere friendship.

_**And while I, Dio, would've put more thought over the serious topic, I preferred to switch back to the next event for today. Jojo had decided to invite Erina for a 'special occasion'.**_

-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-

Returning back to the manor after leaving Hannah back to the headquarters, I ended up discovering quickly enough what the two young teen were talking about for this 'special occasion'.

I was wandering by the mostly empty halls of the large house when I ended up finding Danny waiting for me by the entrance of the dining room.

The dog barked happily towards me, quickly rushing to seek some headpatting out of me. I complied with the simple request, allowing the good doggo some affection since I had been quite distant in the last few days.

And since Jojo was away from home for a fair amount of time, I was one of the few people that the pup could trust for some play time.

Still, I was surprised that he was there considering that he would usually hang out near to where Jojo was and… I was sure that the young Joestar should've been idly studying by his room at this time of the day.

_But what if…_

I decided to check the dining room, despite the fact that I was pretty sure the place was supposed to be devoid of people.

The more I approached it, the more it grew apparent by the muffled noises coming from within the room that my assumptions were mistaken.

I carefully turned the handle, peeking through the sliver I had created by carefully pushing it forward.

"Do you think he will find out?" A feminine voice inquired.

Erina.

"He could," Jonathan muttered with a hint of nervousness. "But it's not like this is a bad surprise. I would be happy to have this much in front of us."

Curiosity was an emotion I long learned to submit to when the circumstances allowed me to, so I peeked more and-

_Then fell forward when Danny quickly pushed the door open and made me trip._

There was a sudden moment of silence, and I could recognize a gasp from Erina as she noticed what just happened.

"D-Dio?" Jojo asked in pure surprise, only to turn at the happy-looking dog. "Danny? How did you-"

"He was waiting outside the room. When you're at home, he would never leave your side, Jojo-"

"Dio, is everything alright?" Another voice added and I finally stared up to see the concerned look on George's face.

Then I noticed that the few servants in there were finishing preparing for some early lunch and-

_Is that a cake? No, there are- Three of those?_

"What is going-"

"Happy Birthday, Dio!" Erina interjected quickly and with a giddy tone. "Today is your fourteenth birthday!"

...Wait, really? Like- How did I miss that-

_Oh right, I don't know it myself. It's one of the few details that isn't know about Dio._

"Thank you, Erina," I said while offering a polite nod to the girl.

Jonathan smiled mischievously and swiftly gave me a hug. "Happy birthday, Dio."

I smiled. "Thank you, Jojo."

"Dio, I hope you understand that I wished to make this a surprise feast for you," George finally explained. "I preferred to keep this as a secret, since I wished to prepare something that can show how much you mean to my family, Dio. To our family."

I felt surprised by that speech and I had a little bit of trouble to nod at this much. I hadn't expected for this to happen.

I don't think it was ever shown a birthday spent at the Joestar Manor, nor I was sure that George in the original timeline would've offered this kind of 'gift' to Dio with the way things had been at that point.

But I had been the 'good kid'. Always careful, always friendly and helpful. Heck, I was relatable to the plight that had gone to the Joestar father-son duo and… now I was given a taste of the fruits born from my patience and dedication to keep things from falling apart.

"Thank you."

I felt myself smiling, and I sure did when we were finally allowed to take a seat by the table.

The event offered more room to speak of simple things at the table compared to the other lunches, but to my surprise it just felt like I would expect a normal lunch to be.

To be talkative, to discuss about silly but somewhat entertaining topics of the world around us.

Jojo was still chided for almost devouring several slices of the first cake, a chocolate-based one, but the most amusing bit of that scene was how it was all coming from Erina.

The young blonde had grown some backbone since our first encounter and I couldn't help but stare at how Jonathan was growing more whipped to her sternness.

George was also pleased by this development as now his son had a 'legitimate' reason to be a gentleman 'on a constant basis'. The man just couldn't help but be glad that his house had grown livelier since I've come around and… then he mentioned something that got me almost panicking and dying on a delicious bite of vanilla cake.

"By the way, Dio. I tried contacting your young friend, little Annie, and… she mentioned that she couldn't make it, but that she would've found you before your return at home. I hope she managed to do so."

I was shocked by these words, but I quickly offered a nod as I tried to ponder about this revelation.

Hannah knew that it was my birthday? She didn't say anything about it and…

Why didn't she say anything about it?

"She did," I muttered tightly. "It's just that I forgot with the tasks of today."

As I finished said that, I felt Jojo giving me a soft nudge with his elbow. I briefly glanced his way and I noticed that he was mouthing a single word.

'Later'.

"Did you manage to convince these students to actually get on with their studies?" George inquired with some interest. "I'm still surprised your teachers would ask this from you."

"It's… because they think I can handle that degree of mediation. It's easier to discuss with those with the same age and… I was already in a friendly relations with this group," I quickly replied. "But yes, in the end they agreed to keep up with their studies."

"I'm glad that you succeeded," The nobleman smiled happily. "And I hope you've kept up working on your first project, Jonathan."

The younger Joestar offered a swift nod. "I've already two full pages now. Another one and I should be done with it."

The man looked pleased with these answers and the conversation didn't steer further from that point onward.

The special lunch went on for just a little less than two hours, with George ultimately bringing an end to it out of the fact that he still had paperwork to work onto, thus leaving me to talk with both Jonathan and Erina.

"Hannah said that she was going to send a chariot to pick the three of us," Jonathan explained quietly. "I've already told father that we were going to be spending the rest of the afternoon up to the evening by the river and that we would return just in time."

I frowned at those words. "And I hope Erina is actually fine with this. I don't wish for her to be overwhelmed if she isn't sure."

"I-I will be fine," The blonde rebuked with a quick huff. "I know that Jojo and Dio would never allow for anything bad to happen, so I'm not worried."

That's a surprising amount of trust she's throwing around- but then again we were her only friends and we never did anything to warn her suspicion or her distrust.

I suppose things will be fine if she is ready for this.

Once we were done by the dining room, we went outside and by the gates. Right where a chariot was indeed waiting for us.

The trip was mostly quiet, with just a few words shared between Jojo and I about what the girl was expected to find at destination.

The blonde was slightly anxious about the matter, but also eager to see what kind of place was waiting in there. Jonathan had already told her about what I was doing but she really wanted to know how things truly were with her own eyes.

Reaching the headquarters once more, we took a slower approach to allow Erina to understand the part of town the building was located by.

She was slightly unnerved when she noticed how many 'sad people' were there in the streets, but she seemed to lighten up when they offered kind nods toward us as we continued for our destination.

Differently from the usual sight I had grown accustomed to, I was impressed by how much crowded the headquarters looked to be. Many had decided to pass by and share their own delicacies with the rest of the guests in there.

Guards were patrolling around to make sure that nobody tried to go beyond the few lines set during the occasion, but we soon found ourselves escorted right to my office.

The main group was there, with Speedwagon slightly distracted in an effort to lessen up the tap of a bottle of wine. Sarah quickly rushed to us while Bhediya was concluding a conversation with Hannah.

"Dio!" The little girl greeted before stopping in awe as she noticed the blonde beside me. "Woah, a princess!"

Erina blushed, but her smile merely intensified at that compliment. "Oh, thank you. You're beautiful too."

Sarah giggled, and soon we were together with the rest of the group.

I decided to turn to Hannah with a fascinated look. "You knew that it was my birthday?"

"You sound annoyed, Dio?" She rebuked with minor irritation. "Shouldn't we be annoyed that you didn't say anything about it?"

"I kind of forgot myself," I confessed with a hint of nervousness. "I just didn't keep track on it."

"You mean that you don't check for it when the months come by?" Bhediya inquired. "I didn't think you would ignore that kind of event."

"You get old by the day, not by the year," I rebuked with a sigh. "And what's wrong with that?"

"What is- Dio, do I need to spare you some words about the importance of partying with friends?" Robert asked rhetorically. "Birthdays, Christmas, weddings- those are all events that should be spend with those you care and love. You should never forget of any of those occasions."

I gave Robert a quick nod, feeling rather unwilling to burst his bubble without reason.

Beer, champagne, and wine was served around the office. I knew that these beverages were also being dispensed around the rest of the building, but from what Hannah was mentioning while sipping at her wine, there had been rules to limit how much a person could drink.

There was no reason to create chaos because someone 'went too far with it'.

I got just half-glass of wine out of this situation, while Jonathan, Erina, Sarah, and Bhediya kept with water.

Both the werewolf and the Joestar were slightly irked by this, but I wasn't exactly eager to test again the bitter warmth that the drink was known for.

I wasn't well-versed with Alcohol, but I wasn't a lightweight. Hannah seemed to hope I had been from the way she was staring at me as I downed the half-glass.

The young woman huffed and seemed a little bit annoyed by her 'foiled plan', but she soon recovered from her defeat with a proper hug from my part.

It was a nice party, and I could tell that she had to do a lot to get all of this working without me noticing.

Quite impressing and also commendable. She did enjoy my compliments a fair lot about it.

And with that glass of wine, I reached a turning point of my presence in this bizarre universe.

The world enjoyed a tranquil day.

_**One where I, Dio, kept myself busy with those I considered my closest friends.**_

-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-d-

**AN**

**Five chapters to the end of Capitolo Primo! Five Chapters before I start with the 'mini-Arc' dedicated to a crossover with something I've… worked with quite recently.**

**It will be absurd, insane, but oddly fitting and somewhat insane.**

**But now- ZA WARUDO! OMAKE OVAH HEAVENU!**

* * *

**Omake 11: Bizarre Displacement (Stardust Crusader)**  
**Idea from: Dylstion (FFN)**

* * *

I was confused by what had just happened.

My body was still shivering as the adrenaline continued to flood my veins. The battle had concluded, with me as a the glorious victor of what had been a redo of something I had already done in the past, and yet my mind was drowning in utter dread at the sight before me.

Fighting Part 3 DIO proved to be as difficult as it had been back then, but now? Things felt much easier over the fact that this ended up becoming a simple redo.

DIO wasn't conscious of what I had used against his copy, nor he seemed willing to spare more attention over my gloating early in that encounter.

What truly brought me to a confusing instance were the world he had offered before we engaged in that quick-paced brawl.

"A mockery of myself? To think that the Joestars would employ such a foolish tactic," The older blonde had said with a curious tone. "But I guess my estimations that Polnareff would've been the one to seek revenge were slightly off in the timing."

I hadn't thought much about it, switching quickly at the taunting instead of pondering over why this 'dream' had felt so realistic compared to last time.

My attacks felt truer, and the small moments of soreness that I was experiencing now that the fight was over just… made me doubt that I was actually in a dream.

But how- or why!

Why was I here in…

…

Oh no.

Before I had the chance of crouching down to burn what was left of this doppelganger with my Hamon, destroying any chances that the vampiric bits survived the little Ripple infusion, I heard loud footsteps approaching.

The doors of the bedroom were slammed open in a powerful display and I felt my heart plummet to the endless pit of fear when I looked at four familiar characters.

Joseph Joestar, Noriaki Kakyoin, Jean Pierre Polnareff, and… Jotaro Kujo.

…

I, Dio, am so dead right now if I don't get out of this place at once.

The close space easily put me in a massive disadvantage despite the already horrible ordeal I was supposed to face.

They looked pissed- well, Jotaro looked ready to punch the hell out of me while the rest was scanning over the place for any tricks or traps.

"DIO."

"Is dead," I blurted quickly enough. "I'm not the effeminate blond vampire you're hunting for."

Kakyoin snorted at this, his sunglasses covering his eyes but his lips were well expressing his amusement over the matter.

Polnareff was less receptive of the sarcastic response. I guess that losing two of his closest friends, getting some of his fingers, toes and part of his leg forcibly removed would leave him quite exhaust of comedic stances.

"You're- you're short."

I narrowed my eyes at Joseph. "And you're a cheater."

That did seem to get him tense, and it was also enough to get Jotaro to snap a confused look to his grandfather.

"What?"

A little bit of chaos that happened well away from me was much appreciated, especially when I was getting spared by some unholy beating.

I knew that Stand-wise I didn't have the means to counter even **｢****Hierophant Green****｣** alone in physical combat.

And I really, _really _didn't want to be turned in a punchbag for Jotaro's **｢****Star Platinum****｣** to use at his own amusement.

"He's DIO," Polnareff exclaimed with insistence. "He's trying to get us to fight each other while he plot for a way to kill us."

"Polnareff, I'm quite sure that you got a proper look of DIO's appearance. Do I really look like a buff bastard with an obsession in macabre manipulation?"

He gritted his teeth, trying and failing to come up with a smart way to denounce my own words.

Kind of futile and-

"So I was incorrect to assume that this inferior copy was affiliated with the Joestars?"

I tensed up, my eyes widening in shock as I turned around and found DIO standing right behind me and… glancing at me with intense curiosity.

Before I had the chance to bring up **｢ACT 1｣** I gasped as two of his fingers pierced me in the shoulder.

"And your blood is akin mine-!"

He had to move away from me as I quickly tapped into the Ripple. The energy flocked at my command, quickly burning at the fingers.

"Hamon?!" Joseph exclaimed as he took notice of the familiar light coming from me. "What is going on?"

"I'm not a foe," I muttered dryly, allowing the Hamon to fix up my wound and speed up the recovery. "The only thing I can say for sure right now is that the bastard is my opponent, just like he is to you four."

"Why should we trust you, brat?" Jotaro inquired rudely, and I sighed.

"You either do or do not," I replied with a nod. "Also… good grief, 'Evil Spirit', really?"

He seemed irritated by that callback to the first episode and the use of his trademark words.

Still, that was enough to get him to stay quiet as DIO finally recovered from what had just happened.

"Fascinating. You might be from another dimension and… I wonder how differently things went for you to have developed a Stand so early on," He mused with an intrigued voice. "I shall study you more once I'm done with this farce. None of you can match my **｢****The World****｣** in a fight."

"I recall you saying that becoming a vampire made you invincible. Then Jonathan trashed you properly," I rebuked smugly. "But I guess that's how you actually live. You trash-talk over a minor power, then you get stomped because you're the classic villain with an obsession for monologues."

He narrowed my eyes once more at me. "I will enjoy destroying you, mockery of the Divine."

"Come hither, you flamboyant vampire stripper!"

And so he rushed forward with the greatest of rages, and I was quick to bring up **｢****ACT 1**｣ for the clash that ensued.

"**MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA-!"**

"**WRYYYyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!"**

Our Stands exchanged rapid attacks, with mine slowly starting to lose before the stronger and faster blows coming our way.

But I already knew that a direct confrontation wouldn't have done justice to this match, and that making winning it the main priority would've been foolish for my part.

Despite the fact my knuckles were slowly getting chipped because of the damage **｢****ACT 1****｣** was sustaining, I still continued to spin one of the metallic orbs I had kept in my jacket's pocket.

Once the process was complete, I dispelled my Stand and quickly launched the Spin against the unsuspecting DIO.

The ball rushed at him quickly… only to be deflected away with a punch from **｢****The World****｣**.

"USELESS! Such a cheap trick will never work on me, foolish version of mine. My Stand is the strongest and-"

KA-BLAM!

The ball exploded on the wall nearby, tearing it apart and revealing the sun right as it approached towards dusk. I was blessed with a proper remembrance of the day's time, and I knew that I could yet make use of the sunlight to attack the vampire.

DIO looked horrified as his legs caught on fire at the sudden development. The pain was enough to spring him away from the range of the sunlight… but right into **｢****Hierophant Green****｣**'s Emerald Splash.

The attack was mostly ineffective against the bulkier Stand, but its main function was to distract **｢The World｣** from the sneaking of **｢****Hermit Purple****｣**'s vines approaching DIO's neck.

The Vampire gasped for air as Hamon started to coat his body in pure energy, frying over his head thanks to Joseph's intervention.

The combo was then concluded when Polnareff proceeded to cut at DIO's tendons with **｢****Silver Chariot****｣**, limiting his capacity to move before Jotaro moved in for the grand finale.

**｢Star Platinum｣** roared furiously as he unleashed a beating worth of seven pages.

I was perplexed by the unpleasant emotion I was getting by seeing a look-alike getting obliterated through the OraOra treatment, but I was glad that I wasn't the one getting that kind of punishment.

DIO's body was shattered, with **｢The World｣** suffering through the entire assault until its entirety was destroyed.

It was quite brutal, swift and-

"_Impressive,_"

I blinked in surprise at the whispered comment, the voice feeling familiar… but also not.

I swung around to see who was talking about.

"_Not yet._"

The entire world crumbled like glass and I felt plummeting into the nothingness as-

_I gasped for air as I woke up back in my bed._

_A dream?_

_Surely that couldn't have been a dream despite the fact I wished it had been._

_My lungs felt tired, my throat welt dry and… my knuckles-_

_I stared down, panic intensified over the fact that something was trailing down at my aching hands._

_Blood. My knuckles were still bleeding… and I was holding what looked to be a large golden ring._

_**And in that very moment, I, Dio, felt like something was watching me from afar and beyond this dimension. Something familiar, something malicious. And something wrong.**_

* * *

**AN**

**The precise request was a little difficult to understand. I was divided between 'the SI ends up in another JoJo Villain's body' or 'SI!Dio becomes the villain in one of the canon parts'. I wish to apologize if this wasn't what you had in mind, Dylstion, but I had to improvise over that uncertain bit.**

**Still, this might be a little more 'serious' Omake over the fact that it might end up alluding what will happen… in Capitolo Quarto (The Part 4 of this story- which is not the same as DiU).**

**REVIEW Q&A!**

**Epro987654****: Omake 10 is Canon, yes.**

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**Guest (Chapter 15)****: The Pillarmen are in for a nasty surprise… but they are not the only 'main' antagonists for Capitolo Secondo (Part 2 of this story).**


	17. Giovinezza (16)

**DISCLAIMER**

**The following is a fan-based**

**FICTION**

**All Parts of the JJBA are all owned by Hirohiko Araki. **

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**Capitolo Primo: Giovinezza (16)**

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This was the fifth meeting I took part of ever since I joined the Ghost Club, but differently from the previous ones the place of our rendezvous wasn't the old building in which the Club's reunions usually unfolded.

The abandoned sanatorium in front of the small group formed by Mr. Moses, Mr. Watts, Oliver Lodge, and I was discovered to be the place of some curious phenomenon. Two police officers were already waiting by the entrance as an assurance for any unpleasant developments.

It was Mr. Lodge himself that brought this interesting case up during the last convention.

Highlighting that some of the machine he was still working on would certainly 'catch' something about the mysterious noises and sights registered within the building, we were going to check the rooms of the former medical facility to see if it was safe from any criminals that could've turned it in their lair.

The government still owned it, but there was no genuine reason to keep the place 'guarded' without a genuine reason or complaint from the people. If this 'stroll' ended up positively, then the Club would've then spent money in buying the land and the facility itself for scientific purposes.

The money put aside by some of the members was enough to fill up with the price set up by the Crown, and I was particularly interested to see how 'expanded' the supernatural world was.

I knew that Ghosts existed. Not only because of what DiU shown thanks to Reigi Sugimoto and her deceased dog, but also thanks to the Dead Man's Questions that gave some depth over what happened after Yoshikage Kira died.

Ghosts were surprisingly common, but a large majority wasn't active and wandering about.

Spirits that weren't attached to any moral compass, nor were they influenced by any demon or the Devil itself.

They could be studied with proper attention and mindfulness.

A ghost can't enter a room without permission when there's someone already occupying it.

A ghost avoids the living the best possible. The moment they touch something or someone that isn't willing to be influenced they tended to be 'rebuked' by life energy. Generally the effects of said 'response' was the shriveling of a limb, or even of the entire spiritual body.

Which is why Ghosts tended to 'reduce' themselves by the shadows of people and avoid entering in contact with the living in general.

But while it's true that they can't interact 'physically' with the living, they were still able to toggle at their own leisure their tangibility. Reimi was capable of doing so, and so where the other spirits living 'in the middle'.

Although I knew plenty of ghosts in the Jojoverse already, I was perfectly aware that there was so much more being kept a 'secret'. An unknown degree of stuff that just waited for experts to be discovered by.

Once we caught up with the two 'bobbies' the local administration sent to guard our steps, we soon ventured inside the building and… I already could tell why this place was haunted.

The walls were rotting in mold, and the smell of decomposing corpses quickly hit the nostrils the moment we stepped inside.

I noticed Mr. Watts looking a little ill the moment he spotted a modest bloodstain on one of the previously white walls. And while he wavered, being held by the other gentlemen as an effort to assuage his nervousness, I kept staring at that strange stain.

The liquid was still… dripping. Fresh blood? This place was abandoned, and I know that ghosts can't do this much impact on the real world. Not with this much precision at least.

"I wish to inform the esteemed gentlemen that… we might have to curt short this visit."

At least until I was sure that the place was indeed forsaken by any dangerous monster.

"Lord Dio-"

"Now listen here, young sir," One of the officers, the slightly chubbier of the two, aimed his finger in an accusing manner. "Your presence here doesn't dictate that you've any right to interrupt an important visit that took precious hours from our patrols' time. So you listen here and-"

I listened, but instead of being subjected to that lecture any longer, I found myself scowling at the most unpleasant of sights.

The policeman stopped in mid-rant as he felt a strange 'itch' coming from his right arm. He glanced away from me, confusion building up until he froze at the sight of his now missing limb.

Blood was now spurting out of the injury, and panic started to seep into the man's mind as he realized that something was indeed wrong.

He screamed, trying to reach for his gun with his left hand but soon he was stopped by a sharp pain erupting from the back of his neck.

Choking on his own saliva and then blood, his body started shrivel up before our eyes. Finally his drained corpse collapsed onto the ground like a fleshy sack of frail bones.

The culprit behind this sudden death gave a quick lick at his fingers, his red eyes flashing maliciously back at me as I tensed up for what was going to be a dreadful fight.

"Gentlemen, this is no longer a request but more of an order born from common sense and a need to end any new homicide," I sternly commented as I briefly glanced at the rest of the group. "Please, leave this place before he starts taking more victims."

"W-What about-"

"Are you sure about this, Lord Dio?" Stainton pressed with some insistence. Perhaps it was correlated to the murderer growing impatient with this unwanted cast of witnesses. "Can you live through this terrible day?"

…

It was so amusing how dramatic this era was. Especially in the Jojoverse. Many still latched to the sense of romantic chivalry that easily brought one's mind to the 'golden era' for the British Isles.

"Of course. For I, Dio, am not allowing some fool with a knife to even reach for me."

That seemed to do the trick. It took just a couple more of seconds before we were left alone and…

Jack smiled.

"You really think so? You really expect me to believe you will dodge any attacks of mine?" The man muttered mirthfully, almost playfully considering how carelessly he was juggling his knives. "I'm not like I was before."

"I can tell," I remarked dryly. "You ended up becoming a slave to Wang Chan. I hope the bastard told you that you're not longer capable of wandering outside under the sunlight or that you no longer have a soul."

"I might have grown in the worst alley possible, but I know what kind of monster I ended up becoming," He continued, surprisingly 'calmer' and more 'focused' compared than before. As a Vampire, Jack looked more humane than he was before.

How the heck does this kind of transformation actually works?!

"But you're also wrong with your presumption I would tie myself to some old bat," The killer continued, pulling out of his backpack an object I was quite acknowledged about.

The Stone Mask and… why was it in his own possession now?

"The old man tried to make me play a strange kind of game. He was crazier than I was with his own views of 'fate' and how you weren't… you," He continued to explain, and I had to school my features to not show panic at the second 'madness' he brought up about the Chinese man. "Ironic that I can't see you any different, especially with how many times I desperately tried to accomplish your resemblance with my victims."

"You're plain insane. You and your demented obsession."

"But the world needs people like_ us_, Dio," Jack remarked brightly. "We're what makes this boringly unfair world into something far greater. It's colorful, all because of our own deeds."

"Let me take an educate guess then. I bet your color is blood."

"Yes, but I think that is a color you're also accustomed to use from time to time," The young man added with a nod. "And yet you shy away from the role. You prefer the unnatural selection of a path that is as difficult as mirthful."

…

"Why are you here then if you're not under Wang Chan's control?"

He chuckled, shaking his head in clear amusement about my question.

"You mentioned an obsession. The need of mine to find and fight you. It sounds simple… and yet it isn't," Jack explained. "At first my own thoughts only blocked me from reaching an understanding with what I felt about you- about your sudden interception in my life and in my plans."

"And now that you don't have any as a vampire? What drives you to commit to this cause?" I pressed on, sporting a degree of interest at that curious mindset. What was he trying to say with this large logic-born turn of events?

"I think the reason is fairly clear… if not incredibly shiver-inducing," He mentioned while vibrating in anticipation. "You and I are made by the same mold. We both were created in poverty, we both were shaped by events surrounding our childhoods, and… then we split away from our common route out of your ambition and interest in making the world better."

He started to laugh again, making me frown in sudden fury at that mockery of a reaction to the last bit.

"And what is_ funny_ of trying to prevent others from becoming 'like us'?"

Jack shook his head.

"You can't fix what isn't broken. You can't improve what is already perfect," The man started to point out. "And, most of all, you can't save what can't be saved. Just like you did with that whore you're currently housing as a friend. What a silly concept."

"Do you mind we start already then?" I snapped with some irritation. "I have places to be, and I really don't want to be bothered in losing time to lead you right to hell."

"Flattering words but… I'm waiting for-"

Before Jack finished that sentence, the entire building trembled altogether as an explosion echoed all over the place. My eyes were wide open in confusion, but instead of bothering and ask about what the bastard had done, my nostrils flared in alarm at the unpleasant smell reaching my nose.

Smoke.

Something was burning. The stingy odor was coming from numerous sides and… I grimaced.

"You want to burn the entire place? Is this what you seek? A 'meaningful' death?"

"I wish that was the case. But… it is not," The killer denied with a grin. "What I want is to… deify your idea."

"I think I will pass on that," I refuted tiredly. "I think the idea itself is divine enough."

"So arrogant- it doesn't serve you well to be this overconfident before someone that can easily kill you."

"The same applies to you," I shot back with a grin. "But yes, I'm absolutely sure about my idea's supremacy over yours."

"Rude and uncouth, what would Mr. Joestar and his son think of-"

Before he had the chance of finishing that sentence, I proceeded to slam both my palms on the ground and unleash the Hamon I had been secretly channeling during our conversation.

Admittedly, I could've used **｢ACT 1｣** to keep him stuck before doing that. But in that moment of rage, I kind of forgot the order of attack and rushed without paying much attention on the simple fact that Jack wasn't shy from dodging deadly attacks.

_Especially with that monstrous speed of his._

In his zombie form, Jack was a high-tier speedster. But now that he was a vampire? Things were more complicated than I wanted those to be.

Jumping quickly to dodge the land-restrained assault, the murderer cackled. "That's what I want! A true brawl- one to confirm our ideals. Which one is better than the ones?"

"Mine, Jack," I chided dryly. "I think we already addressed that point."

I tried to bring up my Stand and swiftly stop him mid-air, but the man eagerly pushed himself back on the floor by slamming his hands on the ceiling of the room.

Smoke exploded as he impacted on the ground, numerous cracks spreading across the entire place.

"Here I come~!"

Quickly shooting at him with three Spin-powered spheres, I grimaced as all attacks where easily dodged by the speeddemon.

I brought my arms up swiftly, tanking on the punch cocked by the vampire and, while the Hamon did its best to inflict some damage on the undead bastard, the knocking force of that fist sent me soaring almost instantly.

Gritting my teeth, I carefully moved myself through the unplanned flight, rolling on the ground as soon as I could to avoid any unneeded injury on myself.

My right arm took most of the damage with that hit, but the Ripple was already fixing the problem as fast as it could.

"That stings… and yet you didn't do much but block my strike," Jack mused as he stopped in front of me. He was a blur, one that I was having trouble keeping up with my human body.

But now that he was there and still, I decided to take this opportunity to put an end to that.

"**｢ACT 1｣**!"

My Stand materialized and properly stopped the confused murderer in his place. Like a strange statue, he was stuck in that precise position.

I stood up, quickly rushing and taking the opportunity to retaliate.

"**WRYYYyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!**"

**｢The World｣** didn't hold back anything he had in his spiritual body. All the strength, all the speed, all the vigor, all the determination, and all the hatred was materialized in that particular moment.

Jack's clothes were ruined, with his cloak and robe getting shredded by the sheer sturdiness and swiftness of my Stand's punches.

He coughed blood, with his body now rendered freed from time's cruel hold.

"W-What was-"

I slammed both my hamon-infused fists on his elbows, crushing them and shattering his chances of ever attacking me with his arms.

Panic finally swelled in his face at how ugly the situation was turning for him.

I pressed forward, preparing one last punch to slam onto his ugly mug. It was a clear victory for me, one that I wasn't going to waste for nothing in this world.

…

But just as Murphy loves to do, jinxes were never ignored by the quintessential karmic retribution. Especially in a life-death situation like this one.

While I had done well by disabling Jack's mean to stop me with his arms, I forgot to do something similar with his legs.

A strong kick reached my chin, pushing me away and back onto the ground. A concussion, my sight was spinning a little bit as I tried to stand up, I heard his footsteps quickly approaching.

Eager, amused, furious, and delighted. Jack was in a frenzy, one that was filled with grunts, half-cackles and humming.

But just as he was poised to end me over that silly mistake, he seemed to notice the little contingency I had left behind as I fell down to the ground.

Bubbles filled with dust to camouflage those with the ground. They were fluttering low, enough for the vampire to fail to take notice of those until it was too late.

Bursting as they were touched by his wobbly assault, the water and dust latched on his exposed skin. The liquid burned fiercely his flesh, the hamon within the dust tearing apart his footing.

His speed carried on as his feet disappeared. Jack flew over me, and ended up rolling for a couple more meters away from my proximity.

I proceeded to stand up, dusting myself as I started to approach the groaning bastard.

My right hand reached for my lips, checking on there if I was bleeding.

My grimace returned. "Yep, this is annoying."

I stopped in front of the vampire, staring down at him with a malicious scowl.

"How does it feel to be close to death? How does it feel that all you gained from this is just a burned building and your very one-way trip to hell?"

He snorted. "A-Amazing."

Cheeky, but I wasn't in that mood.

"Any last words before I turn you to a pile of dust and crap?"

Jack seemed to genuinely ponder about it and then… nodded.

"Never forget about me. Remember my animosity, my curiosity, my maliciousness, and… my obsession."

I blinked at this, staring coldly at him as my brain felt going numb for just a moment.

All of this- this bullshit. The pain, the deaths, the crimes committed by the killer-

I was supposed to remember those? To allow the memory to persist beyond his experiation.

…

"Hehehehe," I started to laugh, and my reaction got the man to finally quiet up.

A surprised look adorned Jack's face and I gave a long sigh before actually replying to him.

"No," I muttered deviously. "No, Jack. I will never remember about you. I will also make sure your memory is permanently forgotten the moment I got enough money to quiet down newspapers and police officers."

…

"W-What?"

"You sound confused, almost shocked," I highlighted with faux confusion. "But you should know that you can't just get an easy way out of the atrocities you've committed. You, dying like a simple criminal? That would be a crime against simple criminals themselves. You know, those that struggle at life and go through illegal ways to survive. It's not their fault, and yet your mere existence disprove the change of bringing reform to these silly rules."

"B-But-"

CRACK.

He howled a curse as I allowed **｢****ACT 1****｣** to slam both its fists down on his shoulders.

"I wasn't done yet, Jack. And when people think they have the goddamn right to speak when I deny them so pisses me a lot," I fiercely commented. "But now, where was I- Oh, yes. I want to do something for you, a punishment that will better fit with your evil doing. I want you to be forgotten, like the Romans would do with those dangerous individuals that should never be remembered. The Damnatio Memoriae. The Curse of Memory."

"I-I killed people-"

"And their family will perish eventually. Deaths are surprisingly forgotten when you're not much close to the deceased. Quite funny considering you hunted down children of people that will hardly live beyond a decade or two, just enough time for me to cement your complete erasure."

"Y-You- why would you-"

I slammed my right foot on his face.

"You threaten my family, my friends- those that I not only consider worthy of my presence but also worthy of my compassion, love, and affection. And you ask me why I go this far, Jack?" My tone was just one touch off from unleashing the worst of me.

Here he was, hoping to get the classic 'redeeming' death that some Jojo characters ended up getting.

But not here, not now. Not with me present. I couldn't just allow me.

"Perish at once, you bastard!"

Hamon rushed over to my leg and reinforced it as I started press more and more onto his face.

His head ultimately collapsed under the pressure, no sound leaving it except for a chilling squish dignifying his final moments.

I paused for just a second to recollect my feelings and… I crouched down to pick the Stone Mask from his back-pack. The rest of the content there was made up by knives of various kind.

'A pity he didn't have a chance to use those...' I joked about as I started to walk out to the entrance.

The building was still burning, and the presence of growing flames and trail of smokes turned in good incentives for me to leave this place at once.

_**And I, Dio, really needed a nap after this frustrating day.**_

* * *

But sadly enough, that wasn't going to happen any time soon even as I had returned to the Joestar Manor a few hours later.

Convincing the surviving police officer to not say anything about the strange encounter proved to be far easier than expected. The man was shocked and, given the display of 'loyalty' from the members of the Ghost Club to support my version of the story ended up pushing him to reluctantly agree to my truth.

Jack the Ripper had set up his lair on the place, a firefight ensued between the officers and the assassin with the building catching on fire because of some odd mixtures being mistakenly combining during the exchange of bullets and knives.

Eventually the 'heroic' police officer gave his life to put an end to Jack's tyranny and kill him for once.

The story was simple, but the entire event was already as confusing as it was for others to think otherwise. And even if the man decided to speak up what really happened, nobody would've listened to the rambling of a distraught 'bobby'.

A sad reality I was pretty sure he knew already the moment we shook hands about it.

Once this was done, I decided to bring up to date the entire group of what vampires were. Bram Stoker's Dracula had yet to be released, and thus bringing up to the table the existence of a nightly creature that lived eternally, soullessly, and with a thirst of blood was enough to introduce renewed curiosity from the rest of the 'Club'.

A questionnaire ensued over various details concerning vampires, and I quickly offered a detailed response to each of their queries.

I knew some would be interested over the matter for a reason beyond mere precautions, but I was clear to mention that the only way a vampire could be made was thanks to the mask that was now under my possession.

Despite the greed, I've already cemented myself as a legitimate monster 'hunter'. Someone that knew enough of deadly creatures beyond the common tales that had to be respected out of the fact that I was the 'only one' to know how to counter each and all of these beings.

With this topic completely wrapped up, I found some relief when I arrived at the Joestar Manor without finding obstacles or issues along the road.

Jonathan was still out for his own lectures, while George was drowning in some paperwork as I decided to check on him by his office.

The room was still as humongous as I remember it being, and the man found my presence to be a good distraction from the maddening amount of documents that had yet to be checked on and signed.

"Dio, I didn't expect you to return home this soon."

His surprise was met with a tired sigh and a calm smile.

"The lecture was interrupted short because of a firefight between Jack the Ripper and the police," I politely explained. "We were far from the building when it happened, but the place was burned to the ground because of some risky chemicals in the killer's hideout."

At the mention of the renowned murderer, George tensed up instantly. But as soon as he learned about the fate of the dangerous criminal, his tension turned in relief.

"At least you were nowhere close to harm's way," The man pointed out happily.

Nodding, I finally decided to bring up the second reason as to why I was visiting him during a busy hour. "Also, I found this while earlier this morning," I said as I showed the Stone Mask. "The thief was trying to sell it around, but nobody was willing to buy something this… 'hideous'. I mentioned the store keeper about the truth over the mask and the knave ran away before I had the chance of calling on the police."

"So I was correct in thinking that someone entered the house uninvited," The nobleman added with a dreading tone. "It's a good think you managed to recover it, Dio. But if it was easy for a lowly thug to enter the house completely unnoticed..."

"Then it would be prudent to buy new locks at the gates and front door," I suggested carefully. "I don't think he will try again, but it's best to avoid having others trying their luck at entering the manor."

George nodded, but just as I finished saying this, I resumed talking about a correlated topic.

"I wish to also add that I've eavesdropped from the thief that the mask was… cursed," I commented with a serious tone. "At first I was skeptical, but I tried with the strange instruction of adding a drop of blood on it."

At the mention of this, the man frowned and gave me a worried look. "And?"

"I was careful enough to dodge the spikes that emerged from it," I replied dryly as I stared down at the mask. "Sir, I know this might sound impudent but… I wish for this- this tool of death to be hidden away as soon as possible. If something happen where blood is spilled on it… then I don't wish to know the name of the unfortunate fool that ends up killed by this horrible device."

"Your concern is legitimate, Dio," George muttered with a tired nod. "And I will certainly do something to properly seal it away from causing harm to anybody."

I felt relief at that. The only advantage Wang Chan had in stealing the Stone Mask had been that the thing was left on display by the entrance lounge. Not exactly a secret place where to keep a dangerous object of that caliber.

With this last topic dealt with, I left the nobleman to deal with what was left of his job for today.

I knew that the activity was thought, and so I didn't want to restrict him from catching up with his schedule and be there for dinner.

My room was my next stop. Closing the door behind me, I settled by my desk in an effort to spot something to distract myself with as I waited for the others to return.

I started my long process of killing some time by writing a quick letter to Hannah to report on what happened today.

She was going to be thrilled at the news that Jack was dead, but she was also going to ask for details. Some of which I didn't feel comfortable to bring up to her.

I had given so much of myself to tone down any malicious reactions in front of others. I was slightly afraid of falling onto the flaws that ended up spelling the original Dio's demise in the Jojoverse.

What happened with Jack… I knew that it wasn't going to be the last time I reacted this fiercely to something or someone.

The man had warranted that ugly aspect of my personality to come out and rain on his parade. That degree of arrogance just disgusted me, especially when I was the one that really won and the one that validated my ideals.

And yet Jack had hoped for a kind reaction to his defeat, almost expecting me to just regard him as some 'brave and misunderstood soul' that just had to go through for moral reasons.

…

But that wouldn't have been right. It wouldn't have made things right for those that died because of his madness.

He expected recognition, like a dog.

But at least a dog was known to love first before hating on strangers. My mind moved to Danny and… I realized that the dog had indeed opened the door of my room to rest on my bed.

I glanced around, giving a quiet look at the calm puppy. Danny looked tired himself, but the doggo was doing a better job in actually finding rest for that long day.

Maybe I should actually catch some rest now that I could. Technically speaking, I was free from any work for today and I really didn't have a reason to burden myself with other stuff.

Jojo was going to be out to study for a few more hours, and so there was no reason to turn in a zombie all because I couldn't find peace and rest for once.

Was I this much angered by Jack's last words to bother catching some shut-eye?

Maybe. Just… maybe.

Continuing to sit by my chair, I resumed my staring over the wooden surface as I started to scribble around. Boredom is a tough beast I sure learned to despise one way or another.

Drawing followed soon after as I doodled around in an effort to get an idea going in my head.

Nothing popped up and I wasted a piece of paper left and right. I was feeling particularly childish, but rightfully so with how little way I had to waste my free time without doing something stressful.

Finally, I decided to test my luck with the Spin. Again.

I was really losing hopes of getting it mastered in less than a year, but then again I was going quite fast with my other abilities that maybe some 'obstacle' in some of my skills was just legitimate at this point.

Maybe I was… looking wrongly at the process?

I remembered when I noticed how Hannah's spin was slightly different from mine.

And from there I started to experiment the various ways I could've used the Spin up until it was dinnertime.

Not much of a success in getting the Golden Spin, but I still got amused over the little experiments I did with life creation.

Leaving the room together with Danny, I decided to leave around just the last of my results during that lengthy session.

It was a tiny violet rose. The shade was a byzantine purple, a sign of imperial supremacy and dominance.

_**And I, Dio, started to address the important matter that was… should I start putting more purple on my clothes?**_

* * *

**AN**

**Jack croaking his last words, George finally agreeing to the need of putting away that creepy mask, and Dio having a fashion dilemma.**

**And now… some Omake! **

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**Omake 12: Two 'Villains' (1?)**  
**Warning: The Fourth Wall was sent to ICU because of this omake.**

* * *

I, Dio, wasn't completely certain of what was happening as of now but… this was sure an odd occurrence.

It easily went beyond the standard bizarre that I was expecting from the timeline, but mostly because the incredible issue came from… another dimension.

The claim was certainly absurd to make so suddenly and without a proper explanation, but let's just say that I wasn't raving over the instance unfolding in front of me.

A portal, one that had opened right in my office, was currently keeping open as a strange individual, one that I hadn't expected to ever met in my hopefully long life, tripped beyond it and into the room.

Blinking, I frowned over this intrusion and, as I stood out of my chair to make way to the intruder, I paused for a moment as _she _stood up with a slightly pained look.

Long light-brown hair reached her lower back, with a cerulean bow tying part of those on her left side. The young woman was wearing a half-sleeved dress with a big skirt. Thin white gloves covering her hands and a pair of leather boots disrupting what should've been a regal appearance.

But I guess I shouldn't have expected much of 'regal' from someone that hardly cared about it.

Katarina Claes, the protagonist of HameFura, finally took notice of the fact that she wasn't alone in that new place. Her bright blue eyes reached up and stopped only to look onto my orange orbs.

There was a switch in that strange silence. Gone was the mystery in my mind as I gave her a tiny kind smile.

A tremendous mistake for sure from the way she jumped in panic at my 'introduction'.

Gesticulating for a moment over who she was looking at, the brunette gawked as her mind tried to elaborate a reasonable answer to motivate this 'confusing' reaction.

"You are D- I mean, who are you?"

Wait, did the girl knew of me and… did she knew of Jojo?

My interest peaked at this possibility, and I allowed her to regain some control over the situation.

"My name is Dio Brando. And I hope you would be kind enough to introduce yourself, intruder."

Or maybe not. Just like she was trying to avoid any sudden issue with her 'secret' identity, so I was doing the same to not get my cover blown by that airhead.

"I-I'm Duchess Katarina Claes, and you- I can tell you're evil!"

Frowning at that sudden accusation, I decided to play her game a little more. I already knew what to say to subvert her little expectations.

"I'm not the one that entered an office uninvited, rudely demanded the name of the owner of said office, and then accused said owner of being 'evil'."

The young woman grimaced at that stern rebuttal, but I was far from over. "But I guess we're similar in that last regard as I, Dio, feel like you're evil yourself."

That actually got a shocked look from her… but instead of keeping quiet as I had expected her to do with so much stacked against her, Katarina proved me wrong by giving me a suspicious look.

"You're not Dio Brando."

My eyes slowly widened at that sudden rebuttal. "Beg your pardon,_ duchess?_"

The brunette backed away a little bit at my tone, but she continued undeterred. "You're too young to be already acting against the Joestar- or to have this nice and warm office. Who are you?"

"The same I could same about you Katarina," I remarked dryly. "Where is the arrogance that made you the main villain of 'Fortune Lover'?"

…

"You," She started, taking a moment to think some more about what she needed to say. "You are… like me?"

"Yes," I replied curtly, taking notice of a strange glint coming from the girl's eyes.

…

"Are you… the protagonist of Absolute Divinity?"

What?

"Beg your pardon?"

"Y-You know- I mean, it's a story I've read a while ago. I kind of remember it because it was the only Dio Self Insert story or something like that," The brunette explained. "I think it was in fanfict-"

"You're trying to tell me that I, Dio, am the Main Character of a fanfiction?" I tried to elaborate my utter shock the best way possible. A self-insert? A version of myself was writing about me? How much was he bringing out and- "What kind of quality did it have?"

"It could've been better..."

I sagged at that sheepish remark.

"B-But don't worry! I know that it's troublesome to think your life might be fake and that your efforts are enforced by an external force, still I know you're real because you're talking to me and I'm real for sure!"

I grew more nervous at her final words, and I saw her eyes catching onto my awkward expression and… narrowing in a moment of dread.

"Tell me that I'm not-"

"You're the main protagonist of 'My Next Life as a Villainess'. You've a Light Novel, a Manga, and an Anime about yourself and your adventures."

…

"Oh God!" Her eyes widened in shock and while I genuinely hoped to be left alone to think about this… this absurdity.

I, Dio, was actually the fruit of the fiction born from the mind of a realer version of myself?

The ramifications were dreadful, enough to get me gawking even now that I was trying to force myself in a state of calm.

How could I calm down if my life is just a-

"T-That means that all the insanity was made by someone else!? That all the worry, all the misadventures were-" Katarina paused for a moment, shivering a little bit before… she slammed into me.

Her arms wrapped around my neck and she made me trip backward before squishing her right cheek onto mine. "Waaah! This it the worst! This- This is so bad!"

Yes. Yes, it is and… your panic cuddle isn't helping my mind to elaborate a proper explanation of what was going on.

But while I really expected for the worst to have passed, dread exploded in my mind as I saw figures rushing at the portal and over at the sight of Katarina now latching at me.

Another brunette spearheaded the big group, with her brown eyes hardening at the sight as she prepared to take charge against the possible 'attacker of her friend (crush)'.

Mary Hunt looked absolutely murderous at that dreadful scene.

And with the main cast of Bakarina passing through, my stare was briefly taken as the door of the office was slammed open and… Hannah forsook her worried look to adopt a more furious one at the growing number of intruders. Behind her, the rest of the people in there, Jonathan included, rushed inside in what looked to be a battle in the making.

Just as I braced for the worst, I also ended up bracing more tightly at Katarina, with the girl mostly clueless of the madness unleashed in that very case.

_**I, Dio, knew that the one to blame was either 'my' author or someone else of the same caliber!**_

* * *

**AN**

**Someone mentioned HameFura a couple of months ago as it shares some elements with this story. I was interested by the correlation and I ended up watching it.**

**Marvelously hilarious and kind of adorable from time to time. I could also see why readers compared this fanfic to it and how SI!Dio is similar (but not the same) to the airhead of a Duchess.**

**One is ambitious, the other is paranoid enough to become the most innocuous individual the world had ever seen.**

**Candy is the true uniting factor for both share a sweet tooth. And a harem each (with Katarina having a mixed vanilla/reverse harem).**

**REVIEW Q&A! **

**ArandomReadr****: Maybe.**

**Guest 1 (Chapter 16)****: DIO had to train his Stand to make use of his Time-Stop abilities, it's only legitimate for Si!Dio to follow that line of thought to sharpen up his control over time.**

**The1stStand****: As of now, I can't tell. For both.**

**Guest 2 (Chapter 16)****: Interesting idea. I will give it some thought…**


	18. Giovinezza (17)

**DISCLAIMER**

**The following is a fan-based**

**FICTION**

**All Parts of the JJBA are all owned by Hirohiko Araki. **

**Please Support the Official Release!**

* * *

**Capitolo Primo: Giovinezza (17)**

* * *

I should've thought that Wang Chan hadn't any intentions to give me any peace after what happened with Jack.

At first I expected him to keep his focus on stealing the Stone Mask, which is why I had George put it away instead of asking to destroy it myself. It was a bait, one that I had been way too certain that would've attracted the evil man's attention.

I was mostly wrong on that account and… someone was already paying this with their life.

It was a simple morning, or at least I thought it was one before I saw utter disaster unravel. I was busy dipping some cookies on my cup of milk, allowing myself a few hours of recollection to prepare for another day of hard work.

With Jack's death, I felt like I had less to worry about, and I had no reason to expect for Wang Chan to take a huge risk with a frontal attack. Not when there were so many Hamon users in my group.

It was with this mentality that I ignored when George started to unusually cough. It was rather deep, but nothing that would suggest a grave situation.

I glanced at him for a while when the phenomenon first unfolded, but I quickly crossed it out as a hint of common cold.

The coughing continued through the breakfast, with Jojo being more attentive of the matter and sporting quite the confused and worried look. Jonathan would look at me with a quizzical look, almost inquiring about this strange predicament.

I merely shrugged, trying my best to show my calm self as the scene ended up escalating even more.

The coughing became more prominent. The older Joestar had to pause from reading various times before he took notice of how severe the symptom was getting.

My attention was finally captured on him when his skin seemed to become sickly pale. The sight was indeed worthy of big concern, and I quickly called for a servant to come and aid the nobleman back to his bedroom, ignoring his efforts, almost feverish and delusional, to say that things were 'under control'.

A butler came to the rescue, placing the man's arm around his shoulder and pulling him out of the room.

It was just as the two men had started to make steps toward the door that another worrying sign manifested before our gazes. George went limp, his pulse lessening the more time passed.

I quickly went to hold the man's hand, pumping Hamon in his body to slow down whatever was happening to him.

The scene dragged on for an excruciating hour as we finally got him on his bed, with Jonathan replacing me as I decided to seek help from capable people. Whatever had struck George into this deadly state, it was having trouble working while the Ripple was coursing in his body.

And I had a single suspects that could fit to this assassination attempt.

Instead of keeping around and doing nothing, I quickly went to fetch a carriage to reach London as quickly as the vehicle was able to. The pangs of panic that were diddling my chest hardly influenced my sense of priority as I knew what I had to do.

I had to find Muddiburi. The man was someone that surely knew how to treat these symptoms and at least stabilize George's conditions.

I knew that he was supposed to visit the headquarters to teach some more about Hamon to Bhediya, so I had a clear destination where I was going to find the Tibetan man.

People were surprised to see me enter inside the large building, but they were swift in picking up that I wasn't there for courtesy.

Twenty minutes went by as the carriage finally returned back at the manor carrying the serious-looking Hamon user.

Another carriage had been scheduled to come at the manor once Speedwagon had managed to get a sample of all antidotes that were available in the warehouse, but for now the most urgent thing to do was get the monk to the mansion.

Servants were confused by this sudden intrusion, but they seemed to relent more than enough when I said that he was a doctor. When I entered the older Joestar's bedroom, I found myself looking at quite the great congregation of people by the sick man's bedside.

Jonathan was having a heated discussion with Erina's father, the doctor demanding from the young man to leave his father's side so that he could check properly on him. Of course, Jojo refused to comply as it would've been deadly for the nobleman if he stopped giving him his Hamon.

Muddiburi's presence seemed to stop that kind of interaction, as the adult turned to greet the new arrivals.

"Dio and- Wh-Who are you?!"

"He is someone that is here to help, Mr. Pendleton," I assured him with the most serious voice I could muster. "While I understand your worry, I can vouch for him. He can help with father."

The doctor glanced at me with a mix of confusion and perplexity, but he couldn't exactly do much to hold Muddiburi from approaching the tired looking George.

"Is… Is that so?"

The monk nodded, leaning down as to properly replace Jonathan in holding the man's arm and start using his own Hamon.

Differently from the boy's activity, the bright effect created by the Ripple was clearer to the eyes of both doctor and nobleman.

"W-What is this? What is he doing?"

"I'm trying to help Mr. Joestar push back the effects of this poison. Someone indeed tried to kill him through a rare strain of a poisonous plant."

"And you can fix this, right?" Jonathan asked with a worried tone. "The Hamon should-"

"I can only stall the poison from reaching his heart for a little less than a full day," Muddiburi interjected grimly. "I need to have the untouched strain of the plant in my possession to develop a proper antidote."

Which means that-

Gritting my teeth, I had to hold back myself from slamming one of the walls with how frustrating the predicament was.

I turned around, silently walking out of the frustrating scene as I had many thoughts to settle about.

I needed time to think and elaborate a way to solve this unexpected and unneeded problem.

The poison had surely been planted by Wang Chan, and I had no means to track down the bastard before the effects of the dangerous substance killed George.

I was aimless, and that left me in the worst state of mind I could've been put into. The only thing that prevented me from giving a furious roar at how unfair the circumstances had turned was the sudden hug from a certain blonde.

"Dio- father told me that Mr. Joestar was sick. I came here as quickly as I could and-"

"I told her that he is poisoned," Bhediya interjected as soon as I noticed his presence in the hallway. I had partly forgotten that the werewolf had tagged along during the carriage's ride and that he had been asked to stay out of the room while I got Muddiburi to work on the case.

He was giving me a quizzical look, but this soon vanished the moment he got a glimpse of my uneasy mood. "I suppose that you've a plan to-"

"No."

…

"What?" The tanned boy sounded surprised. I guess I did make quite the impression of always having a plan ready in any eventuality.

Contingencies were a must if I wanted for my efforts to not be ruined by some of the possible issues that come in pushing forward my ambitions.

I had everything under control… except this very topic.

I didn't know where Wang Chan was hiding.

People had been sent already on spots that could've been used by the dangerous magic user to hide himself from the public eye, and all reports had turned out unsuccessfully.

There was no clue where the man was, and yet I was certain that he was still within London's area. It would make sense that the gloating fool would linger about for the sake of mocking my attempts to find him.

But as things were right now, there wasn't much to do except-

"Master Dio, t-there are people at the entrance."

The voice got me out of my thoughts as I turned to see a butler giving me a serious look. "They are at the entrance right now and they were asking for you, young sir."

"What?" My brain had to reboot for a moment, my eyes widening in brief surprise before the servant fully explained the situation, with the elder slowly leading us by the main doors.

"They looked rather agitated. They were speaking about an attack happening in London-"

What was going on?

My brain was already burning with how many things were happening all at once, and yet I tried to show some attention to this novelty. I zoned out from the words of the butler, and my mind tried its best to try and get hold of what was this new escalation.

London was being attacked. Who was the attacking force? And why?

We ended up arriving at the entrance to find Hannah, Robert, and Sarah waiting by the doors.

They were there earlier than I had expected for them to arrive at the manor.

Hannah was the first one to notice me, and she quickly paced to meet up with me.

"Dio- the city is being attacked-"

"By who, Hannah?" I interrupted tensely. "What is going on?"

It took me a moment to notice that Sarah was clutching Speedwagon's legs, a frightened look on her face dignifying a state of complete distress. The little girl seemed to ease down a little bit as she saw her big brother rushing towards her to understand what happened.

Looking up at Speedwagon, the man looked particularly… stressed. Something big had indeed happened while I was distracted with this situation.

"Zombies," Hannah started to explain. "Ogre Street was attacked. They were aiming at the headquarters, but we managed to repel the first attacks before reinforcing the area with armed men."

"Did they try and attack other parts of the city?"

"Not that we are aware about. But I'm quite sure that they only targeted us," The young woman answered with a tense voice. "Dio, Robert also said that one of the zombies was one of the men we had sent out to the countryside to find that magic user."

I felt my anger bubble again at that comment, but I managed to nod.

"Does Robert know where he was sent?"

Hannah replied with a sigh and… a nervous nod. "Yes. He said that he was one of the few men sent to Windknight's Lot."

…

"Hannah, you and Speedwagon shall stay here at the Manor," I ordered sternly, my eyes narrowing at the doors as I pondered over the fact that I had been tricked so easily.

Of course Wang Chan had easily hypnotized the scouts sent to find him. The man was known to 'directly attack' those that threatened his existence. So I could see him intervene as swiftly as possible to divert any suspect from his possible hideout.

Still, I was quite surprised that he had managed to get enough of Jack's blood when he turned in a vampire.

It was the most plausible explanation as to how he had gotten an army of zombies out from the villagers of Windknight's Lot.

I knew that I had to deal with this on my own. The stakes were far too high to interest anyone else and I wasn't planning to waste time creating a proper team.

"Dio-" Hannah tried to rebuke, but I wasn't just in the mood.

"The situation requires only my presence, Hannah. I want you to stay here and-"

The slap caught me off-guard. The loud noise and the sudden burn from my left cheek was more than enough to stop me from continuing that sentence.

"Dio, with all due respect, I can't allow you to leave on your own and without some support," The young woman rebuked with a serious and strict tone. For the first time since I've met her, Hannah's eyes were showing a degree of irritation and worry that was fairly unnatural to see on someone as submitted towards me as she was. "You're my friend, and I can't allow you to leave without me."

I opened my mouth to counter that statement, but I was stopped as a hand reached for my shoulder from behind and gave it a squeeze.

"I'm coming too," Bhediya proclaimed sternly, Sarah once again left to stay close to Speedwagon.

"Bhediya-" I tried to plead, now knowing that the situation was starting to get out of hand.

Knowing how dangerous the entire predicament was, I wasn't going to risk putting their lives on the line when there were the chances of fighting Tarkus and Bruford.

"I'm- I'm joining too!" The loud admission came from behind us all, and we all turned to see a serious looking Jonathan approaching us.

"Jojo-" Erina muttered, her worry displayed in her tone but the young Joestar gave her a confident look.

"Erina, I know that this will be dangerous and risky, but my father was hurt and… and I can't just let this slight go," The young man affirmed with utmost determination. "This evil man, this Wang Chan, decided to hurt someone I care for and… as a Gentleman, I can't accept this. I cannot!"

The blonde continued to gaze at him worryingly… but instead of trying to dissuade Jonathan from going through with this initiative, she sighed and gave a slow nod.

"I understand."

"Thank you-"

As he replied, his lips were taken in by Erina's as the girl decided to go all in with that situation. My lips twitched in amusement as I saw the results of my little pushes finally peaking in what was the most sweet of scenes.

Jojo was blushing madly at that sudden interaction, and the blonde wasn't that confident in her own action as she felt when she went along with it. Still, the two shared a long stare and the girl nodded.

"Come back unharmed."

Staring down at the ground, Jonathan nodded.

"I-I will," He replied quietly.

Still, I turned to look around me and I frowned at the group now looking at me. "Do I have a say in the matter?"

"You can say no. But… you said that friends do things that sometimes other friends don't condone," Hannah remarked with a tiny smile. "And if these things are for good-"

"I don't have much to condemn. Yes, I do remember that," I interjected dryly, feeling rather annoyed that I was given one of my own speeches back to me.

What the hell is happening nowadays? Was I still me, Dio?

…

Yeah, that was still the truth, and I would've fought to the death for this to never change.

"So it's you, Bhediya, and Jojo..." I turned to Robert while I said this. "Robert, I want you to stay and keep an eye on Sarah."

He seemed unhappy with being excluded, but considering his performances during Phantom Blood, I wasn't going to lose the ultimate waifu/husbando in that circumstance.

"I… I understand."

I nodded at him, appreciating this tiny news in the big sea of unpleasant ones.

_**And now that this is sorted out… it's time to face the ultimate enemy. A speedrun of a half-reverse Phantom Blood.**_

* * *

The carriage was mostly quiet as we all braced for this swift and troublesome adventure.

Before leaving, we took a small amount of time to change clothes to appropriate battle gear.

Jojo decided to stick with a half-sleeved dark shirt, and a pair of dark brown pants.

Bhediya was donning a dark-green shirt, and a pair of knee-long black pants.

Hannah had switched her usual dress to a dark-blue one with a knee-long shirt, and a modest white corset that was meant to help her to move quickly.

Instead of picking something original, I decided to play it safe and wear my own 'battle gear'.

It was the closest I could pull from Dio's original vampiric version, with the outfit differing from it only with the red bits now being a dark-purple and the white central spots now being a dark-gray.

_At least I was going to deal with my 'demons' with some style._

The mirthful thought dampened the sour emotion of being forced to go through quite the complicated task and trip.

I knew that Wang Chan was hiding within the castle that the original Dio had used to command his legion of monsters. But I also knew that the Chinese man was deprived of the dangerous elements that managed to slow down Jonathan when he braved the first bizarre adventure of the series.

Jack wasn't there to halt the carriage from passing the underpass that connected London's proper to Windknight's Lot.

Any of the monstrosities created by Dio through the zombification process weren't there to act as obstacles to our path to the fortress, and so the journey that took days to Jojo to accomplish, ended up taking just five hours.

But the time was ticking, and we didn't have the luxury of being left in front of the Castle.

The village itself was overwhelmed by the undead. The mod of zombies in there was as vicious as expected and our march to the final fight of this painstakingly-long war between Wang Chan and me was slow but steady-paced.

Jojo, Bhediya, and I were the front fighters on this occasion, with Hannah offering long-ranged support and assistance whenever one of the zombies tried to sneak around us and try to get a free hit.

This was the first time I was forced to employ Hamon, the Spin, and ｢ACT 1｣ this extensively. I was regulating the pace and the rhythm of the brawl carefully enough to not get tired too quickly before the intense fighting.

Alternating my own physical attacks with 's own punches helped immensely as we cleaved through the horde of monsters along the way.

The castle was in sight, and our morale was all high as we stormed through the zombies.

Our stamina wasn't the same as the heroes from Phantom Blood, but we still arrived at the bridge connecting to the castle without much of an issue.

The wood underneath our feet was groaning with each step, showing how rotten and old the entire place was.

I looked around, particularly concerned that this reminded me too much of a boss battle. And just like I had expected, the ground started to rumble as an armored giant fell onto the bridge. The depraved grin on Tarkus' face and the malicious stare of the 'smaller' knight now descending from his shoulder were enough to remind me that these two weren't people to underestimate.

Sure, they were enemies from Part 1, but they weren't exactly 'mini-boss'.

Especially if we were facing a monster like Tarkus.

The bridge groaned and bent slightly as the wood was pressed down by the sudden weight exerted by the giant of a knight.

"Oh my, oh my~!" The exclamation came from above, right where the two zombies had come from. Wang Chan stared down from his safe position, and his happy grin cemented the fact that this was something he had expected to happen. "Look at you, 'Dio'. Trying to appear tough in a situation that is just beyond your capacities."

"We're not here to be bored by your delusional spiel, Wang Chan," I retorted sternly. "Your attempt has failed. We will get through this last obstacle and put an end to your madness."

"You are, aren't you?" The magic user muttered mockingly. "I can see you try, and maybe succeed. But in the end, the only important thing is that… Dio wins."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "What?"

"Aren't you planning to win? Then why shouldn't I be lying to myself and my puppets about the matter?" He inquired with a faux-curious tone. "In fact, you should know that the plant you seek is right there in a pedestal I've set right on this floor."

The questions sounded as fake as it could be, and the lack of major reaction within both undead knights was a clear sign that there was something more being kept hidden by the magician.

And for him to tell that he had left the plant there for us to pick once this was done…

What the hell was he planning to do here? What kind of sick game was he playing?

"You're going to pay for trying to kill my father, Wang Chan!" Jonathan exclaimed, his tone augmented by a burst of Hamon coaxing his body.

The proclamation seemed to break the personal illusion of the bastard that I was the only one there, especially with how wide his eyes turned to when he finally noticed Jojo.

"This is even… funnier!" The man chuckled, almost elated to see the rest of the group. "Fated enemies… fighting together."

"Spare us your insanity, bastard!" I shot back fiercely, unwilling to offer any distraction to the fight. "Let's skip the pleasantries. We have someone to save."

"Never heard prettier words!" Tarkus finally spoke, his grin widening at my final statement as he took the first few steps toward us. Bruford followed his example shortly after and… I knew that I had to split the squad in two if we wanted to win.

"Jojo, you and Bhediya fight the knight of the right," I said, offering the plan of attack. "Hannah and I are going to deal with the big one."

"Dio-"

"I know what I'm doing, Hannah," I remarked quietly, my eyes fixed on Tarkus' approaching form.

I needed to be careful to not allow our opponent to try anything to destroy the bridge. They were zombies, and could recover from a fall as big as the one that was just below us.

We didn't have that kind of luxury, and thus I had to take on the delicate task of avoiding that possibility to happen.

And the only way I saw it possible was… by pushing Tarkus to back away from the bridge.

I took a calm step forward… and then I bolted towards my enemy. The large behemoth reached for the hilt of his absurd sword, perhaps expecting for me to allow him to unleash it against us.

Sadly for him, I had no intention to do so and swiftly arrived at where he was to deliver a sudden punch on the elbow connecting the arm wrapping around to reach the sword.

The quick but powerful hamon-fueled strike easily stopped the giant on its tracks as the Ripple quickly destroyed bits of the skin and bone within the elbow, and perfectly severed the arm off his body.

Surprise and awe appeared on the brute's face, but this state of shock lasted just a handful of seconds.

A furious punch from his untouched arm made the bridge tremble once again, the returning grin and the fact he was preparing another slam were enough evidence to show that collapsing the bridge was his plan all along.

Before Tarkus had the chance of delivering a second punch, a loud explosion ripped into his face and forced him to back away.

The knight slowly regenerated from the attack, a bloody snarl regarding the unexpected attack from Hannah as the young woman started to use the Spin on another sphere.

"Cheeky bitch!" The giant exclaimed with an irritated tone, but he failed to see that this was just a distraction for me to deal some more damage.

Grasping at some of the dust and ashes on the bridge's floor, I proceeded to throw the compound at the unprepared opponent once I had it coated with some of my Ripple.

Before the deadly mix managed to reach Tarkus' face, the behemoth slapped the air in front of him and caused the mixture to explode all around him while also dispelling the Hamon hidden inside of it.

"A cheap trick, but one that could've worked if-" The comment, between a praise and a smug rebuttal, died down in his throat as the knight noticed that I was smiling deviously.

It took him a moment for his eyes to spot some strange movement around him. Multiple things were moving around him.

Panic roused as the dust finally settled and several spinning bubbles were rendered visible to him.

He looked slightly relieved at the revelation that the 'danger' was something 'harmless'. His grin didn't survive for too long as the bubbles started to slowly brighten up and… emit sunlight.

His body was barraged by the strange phenomenon, his skin burning and his flesh cracking as the unexpected development ripped him apart.

"I present you to the ultimate form of the Hamon Bubble Technique," I muttered with a smug tone. "I call this 'Spinning Bubble Sunrise'!"

A complicated move that took me ages to get down to an acceptable level. Inspired mostly by Caesar's Bubble Lenses, I decided to take the technique one step further and unleash its ultimate potential.

The Spin replaced the Hamon-induced rotation, and the Hamon was used to produce sunlight.

A simple application that had just two flaws: 1) It required attention and careful planning to get this many quick Spins going; 2) The sunlight wasn't always precise, and the less bubbles were employed, the least were the chances of the attack properly damaging their target.

Tarkus' yells of pain dignified how quickly he was dying. But instead of staying still as the process went on, the giant started to grow more agitated and trash around himself.

The fury of the attacks further damaged the bridge, and I knew that I had to end the bastard as quickly as I could before he had the chance of succeeding.

Another explosion tore at his face, stopping him again as he had to regenerate from Hannah's formidable shot.

The cloud of smoke that limited his sight offered me the opportunity to get close enough and… Punch upward onto his neck.

"**Sunlight Yellow Overdrive!**" The powerful Hamon Overdrive tore through the skin and shattered the giant's throat. His yells were subdued, and his life was properly ended as I retracted my fist out of the growing opening below his chin.

I backed away as he tried to use his remaining arm to capture me, and this last effort failed as I successfully got out from his reach.

A muted scream of pain and anger preceded Tarkus' final act. He trembled, his entire being coated in cracks that started to shine and… the Hamon I had left behind ultimately destroyed the rest of the body.

I didn't drop my guard as I turned to see how Bhediya and Jojo were faring against their opponent.

Bruford was, surprisingly enough, struggling against the werewolf. The zombie's speed wasn't enough to keep up with the natural one exhibited by the wild wolf.

With Bhediya sinking his enlarged teeth on the arm holding Luck, Jonathan took the opportunity to deliver the final blow on their enemy.

"**Overdrive Barrage!**" His consecutive jabs were quick and unforgiving. The sheer volume of Hamon-infused damage was incredible considering how recently the boy had started to learn about the Ripple.

Things seemed to be tending in our favor, with both knights having been defeated, there was only Wang Chan left. The man was still staring at us, his stare looking as deviated and amused as usual… but there was an odd glint that just left me the most tense.

My suspicions materialized with pain as I felt a sharp object plunge into my Achilles' heel. I dropped to one knee, but as the second knife moved silently through the air toward the back of my head, I saw ｢ACT 1｣ reacting against it by punching it away.

A muffled yell followed as I saw a large shadow move from behind me up to where Wang Chan was.

Hannah was struggling against the strong restriction forced onto her by an unplanned ally to the malicious man. Wang Chan's grin turned devious, and my eyes widened as our attacker shoved Anna back within the center of the balcony.

Standing proud and mighty, a demonic pair of red eyes locked onto my orange ones. His fangs were prominent, his pose was impeccable and…

"_Wrrryyyy!_"

My jaws dropped, as I found myself staring at one of the most dangerous enemies to the Joestar Family.

This… this was Dio in his Part 1 clothes.

_**And I, Dio, knew that this was the beginning of the end.**_

* * *

**AN**

**So sudden, so unexpected… Yes, Dio is here, and this isn't the classic ones for sure. Beware for a heated crescendo of drama, panic, and fright for the next chapter.**

**I understand that the suddenness of the bad things happening is so odd compared to the previous chapters' pace, but there is a dreadful reason behind it. And Si!DIO will learn that he made a terrible mistake while handling Wang Chan. (P.S. I have yet to say 'how' this Dio came to be, and it's not dark magic.).**

**Giovinezza is going to end soon and… this is just the beginning of a broader adventure.**

**But let us shift to… the Omake!**

* * *

**Omake 13: Maria the Ripper (4)**

**Original Idea from: KingAllen (FFN)**

* * *

_[Like how Speedwagon had finally managed to get in contact with the Forty Elephants Gang.]_

Truly an elusive group of people, but one that I now had an exchange with and I wasn't planning to turn up late.

Which is why, despite some surprise from the rest of the group at my decision to bring only Hannah and Jackie with me, I ended up turning to a particularly uneven disposition of sides.

While I had been rather 'frugal' with my decision, the leader of the all-female Crime Syndicate had well imagined that it wouldn't have been nice from her part from excluding members from coming.

So when we turned up for the event, I ended up facing a large number of curious, annoyed, or even angry women.

The fact I had decided to bring a 'little child' as part of my escort was enough to get some of them ready to jump at me.

I had expected this, but I hadn't been prepared enough to tank the entire predicament.

Not a good way to start this morning, I thought absently as I waited patiently for the leader to arrive at the lone table of this humongous warehouse.

The lady was particularly 'progressive' considering the way her hair had been cut short for the sake of practicality from the way she hid those under a hat. She was wearing what looked to be an expensive dress, nothing too cumbersome for her to move with but also nothing that someone of her social status should've been able to get hold onto in a legal exchange.

She was smiling, mirthfully so as she glanced at me like a panther does to a baby antelope. A panther that was slightly angry at my recent choices from the way her stare would turn to Jackie from time to time.

"You're Dio Brando," The woman mused quietly before taking a seat. "I was expecting someone more… mature considering the imposing nature of your name."

I shrugged. "I'm working on it, Madam."

She snorted. "I doubt you will ever reach that point with how brazen you're being by presenting yourself with such a small escort," The lady then gave a malicious grin at Hannah. "Especially when said escort is just a fragile wench you found around and a little child that you possibly stole from her parents."

The women behind her roared in agreement at that last bit, and I had to employ my entire patience to go through with these unneeded shenanigans.

I closed my eyes, hoping that Hannah wasn't in the mood to jump at people just yet and that Jackie wasn't going to take offense at the fact her 'beloved brother' had been called a child-robber. I was irritated myself by that dual jab, but I knew better from behaving childishly.

So I blinked, glancing at the leader of the Forty Elephants and… smiled.

"That's rather presumptuous from your part, Madam," I commented with a calm voice. "Not only I'm being willing to concede kindness to the fact you're being rude by not offering a name, but you're also going as far as insult a close friend of mine and my young sister. I thought this was a diplomatic meeting, not an exchange of petty insults."

The counter not only worked properly in its primary function, but it also managed to draw some surprise out of the rest of the gang.

Still, I could see most of them giving me the stink eyes for bringing a child to the dreadful encounter that could easily escalate for a reason or another.

She shook her head. "Despite the disadvantage you've been put into, you still find the gall to try and get equal treatment? Don't you fear a quick death, boy?"

My smile grew at that question. "Always. But so do everyone in London nowadays. At least those that don't have some shiny guards to defend their hides."

Finally, a small smile appeared on her face.

"Yet you're dressing like someone in need of guards right now," The woman rebuked mirthfully. "Isn't that ironic? Or perhaps you're jesting by wearing these fancy clothes?"

"You are ugly," Jack decided to retort with the most innocent and _quietest _tone she could muster.

The remark was received as a proper punch on the guts from the way the leader of the gang recoiled, her face displaying surprise and annoyance.

"And you're too young to be here."

Green eyes locked onto the woman's face and the former Ripper shrugged. "Why?"

The question got some gawking and contempt, but the leader merely stared and studied the complexity of that simple question.

"Because it's dangerous."

Jackie almost smiled at the reply, and I knew that it was just her quirky interest to fight in the worst of odds. She was born through violence, and she still enjoyed being yeeted in the most brutal of circumstances much to my ever-present worry.

Before the giddy girl had the chance to deploy her daggers and rush at the possible bloodbath, I reached out to pat her head. The action had her tense for a moment as she seemed to recover from that daydream of hers, and she eased down as she realized that she had been close to break the promise I had asked to her.

_No unnecessary killing while we were out. If they attack, you can retaliate as much as you wish. _

"Circumstances led me away of the streets just a few months ago," I replied with a truthful tone, drawing attention back on myself. "I would dare to say it was a fortuitous development, but still one that set me in the capacity to actually make a difference instead of going through the bureaucratic mess that exist in this nation."

"Charity will hardly make the difference, boy," She mused dryly, still shaken by the previous digression. "You either become a thief, or you just don't. There is no means to be kind and expect the world to be kind in return."

Allowing a confused look to appear on my visage, I blinked perplexed.

"I think your opinion is bleaker than how reality is."

Curiosity exploded at my words and the woman sighed. "Maybe, or maybe you're just too far from seeing the truth of things, boy."

"I've lived in the slums for fourteen years. It was a miracle that I lived beyond the ten years of age," I started with a serious voice. "I didn't just 'see', but I also experienced the squalor. I saw what the newspapers prefer to hide behind bigger news of the world."

"And you still wish to make the difference by being kind to others?"

"Why is that so bad?" Jackie pointed out again, her child-like curiosity hinting at a degree of irritation. This back and forth was quietly eroding her patience and that perfectly clear from the way her eyes were narrowing once more on the woman I was speaking to.

"Because it's foolish."

"My brother is offering you a better life. A ceiling above your head, a warm home, and much more," She listed with a confused look. "And yet you spit at his offer because… you don't believe it."

"The world is unfair-"

"I know," The girl rebuked calmly. "But that doesn't mean you have to suffer by its rules. It's silly… you're all silly."

Before I had the chance to end this conversation before it could escalate, Jackie decided to back away and turn to me for a quick hug. I was surprised, quickly ruffling some of her hair as she sighed tensely.

"_I recognize some of their faces._"

That sentence froze my blood as I quickly realized what she was talking about.

I was tempted to look up and at the rest of the gang, but I knew that it would've just been a strange behavior from me.

The Forty Elephants had some former prostitutes within their gang. And it wouldn't be absurd for… a small part of those to be responsible for Jack's birth.

My lips twitched, an unpleasant line replacing the calm one that had lived moments before.

"_I'm sorry,_" I muttered calmly. "_I should have expected this to be a circumstance._"

The apology was received silently and I waited quietly for a moment before picking her in my arms and standing up from my seat.

This action got a shock out of the group and the woman almost stood up herself.

"W-Where are you going?"

"Out of here," I remarked dryly, nodding at Hannah as she offered me a sympathetic look as we started to walk out of the building. "The diplomatic effort is inconclusive, and I think I've overstayed my presence here."

I expected to be granted an uneventful leave out of this failure of a deal, but just as we were close to the entrance, one of the women decided to let out the most stupid sentence she could've mustered.

"_Don't forget your filthy wench here._"

The comment prompted a loud session of giggles and laughs from the rest of the group, but I was far from amused… but worse was Jack.

Time had passed, and despite the still-present tensions between the young girl and Hannah, the two had taken steps to fix the various issues they had with each other. I made sure to foster any effort in that direction, and I was glad to see that it all worked properly.

Jackie had plenty of chances of spending time with the young woman while I was busy with paperwork, and that allowed for a strong bond to happen.

And with that insult, someone just warranted some retaliation.

I felt Jack's weight shifting as she leaned up over my shoulder and… I felt a loud pain-filled yell explode from behind me.

Turning around, I was greeted by quite the macabre spectacle. The target of the former Ripper's throwing knife was crunching down in visible agony. Some were trying to help in removing the knife, but the blood exploding from her shoulder was a good deterrent from anything quick and serious.

"H-How dare-" The leader of the group tried to pull a revolver from her skirt, the gun aimed at us and ready to shoot.

Sadly for her, I was far quicker.

"｢ACT 1｣!"

My Stand materialized and swiftly used his ability against the gun.

The mechanism was blocked, and when the trigger was pressed the weapon exploded.

The leading figure shrieked as she recoiled the result of having her right hand so close to the blast. A gruesome sight for sure, but not one that stopped me from pressing the advantage.

"Up until now, I've shown you my mercy and my kindness. I offered you all the chances you needed to behave like civil individuals considering the circumstances that bring us here," I started with a weary tone. "I tried to ignore your playful manners, I tried to stand by your own rules, only to be rebuked with quite the violent reaction."

I took a step forward, and they all tensed up at the action, seemingly afraid of what I might have done next.

"The reason why I came here is to offer you all the chance to be legally paid and well-supported by turning you all in the first professional private mail system," I explained calmly, ignoring the chilling silence I had willingly created. "I wished to extend friendship and an alliance that would turn you all away from the dangers of dealing with the law, to allow your families to be safe from the dangers your current line of work create. I still wish a response about this very offer as I know that I shocked you well enough to think twice before stepping on me. I will not condone any other cases of 'joking' while in my presence, and I demand an apology in return once you're available to speak as civil people you are."

I turned to Hannah, giving her a nod as we started to walk away from the table, with the girl walking beside me while Jackie retreated back in the embrace as she felt slightly guilty of this situation

"W-Wait! What about that answer you said you wanted?"

I stopped, glancing at the leader as she was finally standing up in the tensest and most worried of postures. She was afraid, and the injury was still bleeding as I could see.

I had to have frightened her well enough to make her forget the pain she was currently dealing with.

"Your name. What is your name?" I inquired blankly, causing her to gulp nervously.

"I-I'm- My name is Elyse, milord."

I sighed as she curtsied to me.

"Dio will suffice. I'm no nobleman," I stated with a nod. "And Elyse, you may offer your answer to Speedwagon when you're sure your group is convinced of your decision. I will offer you four days to rely a proper answer and an apology."

_**I didn't spare further time there, deciding against lingering with that bunch of idiots. I patted Jack's head, quietly praising her restrained action. Still, my mind was elsewhere as Jojo had decided to invite Erina for a 'special occasion'. I wonder what the young Joestar is planning for me…**_

* * *

**AN**

**Next Jack's Omake will be the last. I know it was short and people were expecting more but I might return with a 'Season 2' if I feel it. Plus, I have another Fate character that will appear in the Omakes and… she will be as complicated and adorable as Jackie.**

**REVIEW Q&A!**

**Isaac LB****: It was indeed an execution.**

**Diamond of soul****: Yep, that's what happen when people show interest to an idea.**


	19. Giovinezza (18)

**DISCLAIMER**

**The following is a fan-based**

**FICTION**

**All Parts of the JJBA are all owned by Hirohiko Araki. **

**Please Support the Official Release!**

* * *

**Capitolo Primo: Giovinezza (18)**

* * *

The world went still, with my breathing starting to pick up before the worst case scenario.

Orange eyes clashed with brazen gold as I found myself glaring at the smug monstrosity standing atop that balcony.

"W-What is going on?!" Jonathan was the first one from the shocking development, his blue eyes widening in clear panic as we all tried to make sense of this escalation.

It couldn't be a clone born from Magic. The impressive precision and speed in using knives, and the cunning used to get Hannah…

These couldn't be replicated by a mere copy. This- This wasn't something that I had expected, nor I had anything in mind that could properly work against this version of the villain.

Part 3 DIO was severely dependent on his Stand, especially when most of his vampiric abilities were unavailable because of Jonathan's body. But this one?

Even without a Stand, Dio was a serious threat that got so close to kill Jojo during their 'final' fight. The battle was dangerous, and many perished to reveal the monster's abilities. One in particular jumped to my mind, Dio's capacity to drain warmth from around his body and outright freeze anything nearby himself.

It was a deadly ability that overwhelmed hamon, and the only way to counter it was fire.

An element that wasn't present in the brazier around the balcony like it had been in the original timeline. Very suspicious that this was a thing.

"Look at you all cowing against fate itself. Mongrels that barely can stand on their on feet before the might of me, Dio-"

"As if I would accept a mockery of myself," I rebutted fiercely, unwilling to allow this buffoon to keep on with this situation. "Let me ask, who brought you here?"

"Rude," The man rebuked tiredly. "But rightfully frightened at the prospect of being utterly destroyed. I can already tell from your shivering that this isn't a battle you wish to fight."

"I'm bleeding-"

"The knife sealed off the wound for now, once removed then you will start bleeding," Dio retorted flatly. "But I admire your incapacity to accept defeat in a conversation. It makes things more exciting since I wish to know how you handled things without the mask."

"I'm not like you, counterfeit."

"And I'm glad that's the case. Imagine people confusing you for someone worthy of my stature," He remarked dryly. "I'm not someone that delays in praise when due, but I will never accept the fact that you so believe to be the original one."

"And yet look at you, needing to have a literal high ground to make up for the lack of a moral one."

"When did morality matter to the two of us," The older blond pointed out. "We are spirits of another era. The harbinger of a new era."

He stretched his hand towards me.

"What? Now you want to recruit me in your despicable and losing faction? Are you so mad and inhuman to besmirch my pride so eagerly."

"Spare me the insults, fool. You should be glad that I find potential in what you represent and are," Dio pressed on. "I don't wish to spill unnecessary blood, not when I can see the chance of having someone worthy of being my friend."

…

"What are you-"

"Someone to trust with my mind and soul, with my thoughts and the few feeble worries that surround my brain," He interjected calmly. "I wish for a real friend, not a zealot like Pucci."

How does he know about-

"You met him," I accused him without hesitation. "It was Pucci, the damn priest is behind-"

"Most of it. But not enough to create trouble for you," The older alter ego admitted. "In fact, you are looking to the one that set you against Jack the Ripper and Wang Chan against you."

I turned to the still-smiling magician, just now noticing the vacant look in his eyes.

This Wang Chan… he was no longer master of his body. How long have I been fighting a meat puppet controlled through Dio's fleshbud?

"I was surprised when I was first sent there after enjoying my victory against Jonathan," Dio explained with a fascinated tone. "I was bewildered by the imposition of a task from someone that has defined himself to be a friend to DIO, but easily threw me to face someone that I wouldn't have ever dreamed to fight against."

He opened his arms wide and an amused smile flashed deviously on his face.

"A Dio that refused instant greatness for this facade of good. A disgusting yet morbidly curious sight that even now leaves me baffled," He proclaimed with a dry voice. "You can't expect me to seriously believe that you wish to be good when you yourself know that nothing can be done by being a good person."

I shook my head. "I still can't believe you can't see how wrong you are. Even winning against your enemies leaves you as ignorant as you were when you first saw that mask."

He tensed up, a surprised look briefly flashing before a snarl replaced his smug expression.

"You really think that you can come here and lecture me about morality? What do you know of-"

"What would mother think of what you've become?"

"She died for me to become divine, not for me to live a simple existence!"

I frowned at this exclamation, feeling my anger bubble as I could still remember the content of the letter she left for us. For Dio.

To be great, but to be a good person. To be an example, a role model to follow.

Gritting my teeth, he barely looked fazed by my fury and before I had the chance of speaking once again, I found my attention taken elsewhere.

"D-Dio, what is going on? Why is that man so similar to you and… how do you know him?"

Jonathan was making all the good questions, and I knew that at this point I needed to provide some truth if I wanted to keep the group united and unbreakable.

"Jojo, Bhediya, I wish for you both to listen to me as I will not have the means to repeat this explanation without delaying the fact we need to attack," I said, waiting for the boys to nod before resuming my speech. "Imagine that our lives to this very point are all written down inside a book. All events, both good and bad, with ink upon the white paper. Now, think about a book that is similar to ours, but instead of some crucial events that defined us as individuals, other decisions were taken and things were different."

"You mean like… like if I never met you two?" Bhediya suggested and I quickly nodded.

"Yes. That is an example and… now imagine a book similar to ours where… I, Dio, decided to not get close to the Joestar and allow myself to wallow in misery," I continued with a tense voice. "Where I only seek individual power and wealth to achieve the highest role of society, all the while trying to harm Jonathan to allow me to become the Joestar's heir."

"Y-You wouldn't. I know that you wouldn't."

"I wouldn't," I agreed with a calm smile at Jonathan's fierce refusal, then I turned back at the once more smug Dio. "But he would. And he did. He tried and eventually craved power at all cost. The mask, the one that turns people in vampires, was the quickest way to achieve that."

"That Dio- he- did he kill our father?" Jojo asked.

"So you consider George a father too?" Dio interrupted dryly. "What a disgraceful fall, this is even worse than I had expected."

"He did. It was the sacrifice he needed to fuel the mask's dangerous power," I resumed without giving too much weight at my older alter ego. "And then you went to fight him once he came here in Windknight's Lot to end his madness..."

"And I lost," The young Joestar concluded for me with a quiet voice, and I found myself nodding.

This wasn't the worst but… I knew how to win this brawl.

"B-but how do you know this?" The werewolf inquired and I nodded to him.

"Let's just say that it is all thanks to the one man responsible for meddling with the books. To try and change reality to create the best one possible," I explained with a serious tone. "And now I know much of what could've been and… what I could've become."

There was silence after that, and I knew that I had finally sated their curiosity. It was time to return our attention to Dio.

"But we will not lose today," I remarked determinedly. "In fact, I can already say that you have already failed to achieve a victory out of this because of a flaw we both have."

Dio's golden eyes narrowed at me as he listened to my declaration.

"Truly? And that is, you foolish brat?"

I smirked. "We both love the sound of our voices, and we tend to ignore quiet noises while we're speaking."

The comment made no sense to anyone in my proximity and Wang Chan, but Dio seemed to catch on what I was talking about when his eyes widened and he stared up.

The silent hiss coming from the rotating bubble that had slowly moved to hover above his head came to an end as he noticed it.

Hamon exploded and rained upon Dio through the water drops created by the large bubble bursting mid-air.

Electricity-like energy coursed in his body, forcing him to shriek and back away from the balcony at the sudden pain that was now consuming his attention.

Sadly, the amount of hamon in the water was incredibly diluted and it wasn't enough to kill the vampire like I would've loved to see.

Yet this was an aftermath I had predicted and the act was none other than a ruse to keep the vampire distracted.

**｢****ACT 1****｣** shot me up in the air, sending me soaring well above the balcony and… I soon dive bombed towards the snarling Dio.

"You insufferable bastard!"

I rushed quickly and without hesitation, my legs moving in preparation as I started to do a split the closer I got to my target.

My enemy started to cackle, seemingly ready to tank on the attack without any restraint.

"This move- I've already proved how pathetic it is! But sure, come here and perish like nothin-gah!"

My ripple-infused legs slammed down on Dio's elbows, tearing his arms apart in the process and leaving him unable to defend himself from the punch I had cocked up in the meantime.

"You're right, it wouldn't have worked. But this is something different, I call it **Thunder Punch Slash Assault.**"

The defensive capability of Dire's strongest technique ditched to enchant the offensive might of the ability itself.

Without arms, Dio didn't have much of a defense to hold against my fist and I slammed a powerful overdrive against it. Yet I had miscalculated something about him.

His legs were still perfectly working and as my fist reached for his torso, he promptly rushed back to avoid the full might of the attack.

"Impressive! But not enough!"

I was ready to pursue him when I felt someone rush towards me from the side.

"What a naughty boy you are, little trickster!"

Wang Chan, I had forgotten about him. The cackling bastard had his claw already deployed and I was swiftly forced to shift my attention on him as he started to attack me relentlessly.

I was fast enough to handle the furious swiping, but not enough to actually dodge this assault and deal with him as quickly as I could.

The short man was ferocious with his onslaught of strikes, and I had to take a careful approach to not get maimed by his fierce hits.

"Come on, _Dio, _don't rush away from me- let's play some more~!"

"I'm not sure if this creepiness is yours to have or if it is the flesh bud making things awkward."

He chuckled, slamming his left claw down, damaging a good section of the balcony in the process.

"I can tell you, but you have to allow me to play with your guts first~!"

"Then I refuse. Now fuck off."

"Language!"

This was getting immensely frustrating. I tried to throw two Spinning balls at him, but he could deflect the attacks before they had the chance to explode on his face.

Truly frustrating. Even **｢****ACT 1****｣** had some trouble handling the length of the claws keeping the Stand from letting the man in its range and I couldn't get close enough to smack the hell out of this crazy dark magician.

As it was right now, this situation was way more troublesome as I predicted it to be.

"So close, _so close!_ I can tell you're running out of energy and then… I shall strike!"

The giddy remark was the last smug reaction the man would get as a small explosion crushed his left leg. It was sudden, and I hadn't expected for it to happen. I swiftly traced the origin of the blast back to… Hannah.

The young woman was standing tired and slightly bruised, but she seemed to be conscious enough to be a good support for this fight.

"You filthy whore- trying to attack me when I-"

Wang Chan made a mistake by turning his attention elsewhere. ｢ACT 1｣ was already upon him as the Stand mightily discharged a furious rush of punches that ended up breaking his wrists, his elbows, his knees and his jaw.

"**WRYyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy-YYYY!**"

The final punch sent him flying above… and right in the trajectory of the second Spinning ball that Hannah had managed to conjure. The attack reached the weakened magician without opposition and the brilliant explosion that ensued engulfed the being without any mercy.

A last screech was suddenly interrupted as the blast and the flame ate his body whole, leaving nothing but a burned corpse behind.

_One down… now it's time for the final boss. But first-!_

"Hannah, do you need medical assistance?"

She looked surprised by the question, but she slowly shook her head. "I'm… I can do this."

I gritted my teeth, starting to dislike her bravado now that we weren't in the situation to allow this to influence her decisions.

Still, I didn't have much to say as I noticed Dio waiting for me and… looking as if he had never suffered any damage. Then I noticed that he had been standing by the entrance of the balcony and that… a trail of blood stemmed from his current position to the corner that led inside… right where a pale arm was visible to my sight.

He had corpses to drink blood from. He had some impressive regenerative power, especially without Jonathan's body to hinder his vampiric powers.

This battle was going to be tough and… why weren't Jonathan and Bhediya here already?

"I bet you're confused as to why your friends aren't joining you two for this last match. Well, while I wasn't able to create the same exquisite creations I had made in the past against Jojo, I still managed to find some sublime specimens that will prove to be difficult for your allies to beat."

"I guess Dio will be defeated by Dio."

He smiled deviously. "The original against the little impostor."

"Bite my butt, effeminate bloodsucker."

The sudden Un-Dio-like comment hit him like a train full of bricks, and it allowed me to start this brawl already by rushing towards him.

The plan was technically simple. I needed to attack only when I was sure that he couldn't freeze me on the spot. His warmth-draining ability required me to stand still as he worked on the process, so I had to give him quick but weak strikes to soften him up before stepping up my game.

"You disgusting mongrel!" He finally reacted, preparing to attack as I deployed my Stand.

"USELESS!"

"**｢****ACT 1****｣****!**"

Dio stood against the humanoid appearing between us, his punches being blocked by my Stand's mighty hits.

The clashes created some powerful waves, but nothing close to what **｢****Star Platinum****｣ **and **｢****The World****｣** achieved back in Cairo.

The stalemate was also more even, and I could feel the pressure applied onto my knuckles as the stinging reaction to each match-up surfaced onto my hands.

Dio was faring a little worse, especially since Stands were able to severely damage undead people through their attacks, and that wasn't something he was conscious about from the way he was roaring furiously against **｢****ACT 1****｣**.

"So you have a Stand like Pucci!" He stated before backing away from the direct confrontation. "I assume that it also has some ability. What is my Stand's power?"

...His Stand?

Something about that claim just made my blood boils. I wasn't going to allow this upstartish remark to go unpunished.

_**FOR I WAS DIO, AND THAT **__**｢**__**The World**__**｣ **__**IS MINE!**_

I bolted, and I was sure the vampire had expected me to rush for another close confrontation. Instead of accepting the challenge, the monster jumped up in the air and displayed the numerous knives he had at his disposal.

"Since you seem to prosper in direct confrontations, let's check on your propensity in fighting long-ranged opponents."

The dangerous blades soared silently and zeroed the distance between him and I. I dodged the first barrage, using my Stand to propel myself towards Dio and… instantly regretting that decision as I soon found out that I couldn't dodge properly mid-air.

"You fool! Ditching your main element out of spite towards me. See how the scorn born from ignorance dignifies your own downfall in this simple but legitimate fight for the Heavens!"

The older blond gloated, and I felt even more pissed by the way he was toying with me. He was in a worse shape than I was, but compared to me he looked barely winded. His stamina looked barely touched by the damage I had inflicted on his body.

Two knives finally plunged into me, with one slamming in my right leg, and another stabbing me in my left shoulder.

_Fuck, now I know how Jotaro felt while fighting this bastard._

But differently from the Japanese delinquent, I had to deal with numerous problems at once since Dio's abilities weren't limited to just **｢****The World****｣**.

"You will never reach my greatness, you filthy thief. The only thing you will see is death and- GAH!"

A powerful explosion ripped through his right shoulder and it was in that moment that I realized that I wasn't alone in this fight.

_Hannah!_

The young woman was breathing tiredly, preparing another Spinning ball as Dio and I started to fall towards the ground.

"You shall perish!" He said before diving towards me. I dodged the attempt and quickly started to barrage the bastard's body once again, this time ripping through his clothes and skin. I was hitting with all I got, but I found it difficult to mold Hamon with how stressed and strained my lungs were at the moment.

Much to my irritation, I was starting to slow down and grow weaker. After fighting so intensely for so long, I just felt too drained and unable to keep up the pace.

Dio noticed much to my chagrin, and soon he started to return blows with his own strikes. I could feel the pain growing unbearable and soon I was sent flying to the ground with him standing atop of me.

"A brilliant display. I'm impressed," He judged with a calm tone, ignoring the damage he had sustained. "While I should be angry at the way you maimed me, I know that this is just proof of my need to recruit you."

No.

I saw a familiar object in his hold.

"You were determined, absurdly annoying to beat but… it's too late," He crouched down, and I tried to crawl away.

I was so… so tired. I couldn't move properly and crawling was the only way out.

But that option was crushed the same way I felt my right leg suddenly squished with a kick. I gasped blood, the pain leaving me a quivering mess.

This wasn't… this was bad. This was the worst and… and I couldn't move. The mask, I could feel it hover over my head.

"It will all be over soon. You will do a fine DIO's minion. A model for others to follow and-"

His speech was interrupted as his face was engulfed in a mighty blast that destroyed the left side of his head.

Furious, Dio turned his glare to Hannah as the woman carefully advanced on him.

"L-Let him go! Let my friend go, you bastard!"

_H-Hannah- no! Y-You can't- you can't fight him._

_You can't-_

He moved so quickly, and I wanted to scream at the woman to move, to dodge, to do something to avoid the furious assault.

She had another Spin prepared but… I saw her gasp before her face was hidden away by the Stone Mask.

Dio's blood activated it and a chilling scream of pain exploded from the woman's muffled mouth as the spikes pierced her and turned her into a vampire. The Spin exploded from her hold but its pattern was slow, suave and it was directed at me.

I couldn't brace myself for the attack. Not that I wanted to as I knew that it was all lost.

Dio was smiling victoriously as I was left alone to handle him and… and Hannah fell down to the ground like a limp doll.

_H-Ha-Hannah- no, I- I should- I should have-_

**The young woman's lips turned in a small but determined smile as she literally rushed towards me, arms wide open as she went to scoop me for a quick hug. "Lord Dio!"**

_N-No. Please I- I'm sorry-_

"**Lord Dio, to receive so much attention and consideration~!" Another giggle-**

_I'm- I should've tried more- I'm not worthy of- of being- of trying-_

"**Lord Dio, it's good to see you healthy and in good shape," The young woman greeted politely and eccentrically.**

_Why- why is this happening-_

"_**Iio, Hannah. I don't think I need to explain that friends don't use formal titles.**_" **She sobbed at that remark, her hold tightening even more much to my immense sighing.**

Finally, my sight returned to the real world as I felt something soft pressing onto my cheek. It was warm, it was filled with care and… love.

I blinked, my teary eyes turning to the curiously soft spinning ball now pressing on my face. It wasn't the usual white. It was gold.

_H-Hannah?_

Her attack, the one that was meant to kill and destroy, was now used as a final message as she left the world of the living.

I carefully reached for it and… studied it. I was mesmerized by the beautiful display of power and manipulation. This was the Golden Spin and… it felt now easy for me to understand how it works.

"Truly an interesting ability," Dio's voice tore through the quiet. "Sadly, it will do you nothing. You've lost before me, Dio. And now, you shall become my loyal puppet."

I gritted my teeth, my anger bursting once more with renewed vigor. Gone was the strain as the Golden Spin slowly healed by wounds and my broken leg. I trembled while standing up, but it wasn't the Spin itself that brought me out of that catatonic state.

No, something had… happened. Something had snapped at being given the ultimate sign of kindness and love.

"Y-Your sacrifice… shall not be in vain, Hannah."

Dio snorted. "Hannah? Is that the wench's name?"

The vampire seemed ready to give out a joke about it, but he stopped as he felt something odd erupt from my body.

**ゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴ**

**ゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴ**

**ゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴ**

**ゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴ**

He could sense it, but he couldn't understand **what **it was. His instincts were screaming, I could tell from the way he squirmed and backed away from me.

I took a step forward, feeling a degree of strength beyond what I had been able to muster until now. Compared to before, it was like someone that had just drunk a few drops of beer was finally given a full glass of alcohol.

The rush was absurd, and it added to the vengeful thirst that had reforged my determination in a single and absolute word.

Kill.

Do it for her.

And I roared as my Stand changed to best represent my new understanding of the world. I wasn't going to allow others to be endangered by my incapacity to act on my own.

It was time to learn to take the worst on myself. To gamble my life and succeed at all costs.

**｢****ACT 2****｣ **looked stronger in this new version. He was bigger, and the vines had grown thicker to resemble proper muscles. The metallic bits were a lighter shade of their former selves, with the silver and gold shining brighter than before as the mighty humanoid roared together with me at this final lap to victory.

**MUDAAAAAAAAA**_**HHHHHHHHHHHHHH!**_

"Y-You can't win. Your body is too strained and your lungs can't process Hamon," Dio half-yelled, his fear now manifesting in his scared expression. I was furious, murderously so, and he could perceive my craving for some killing as he backed away again.

It was all futile, as I could already see his next moves like the coward he was.

He tried to turn, but **｢****ACT 2****｣ **rushed at him without making a noise. The first punch cracked the back of Dio's skull, sending him face planting on the ground.

The vampire tried to stand up, but I was already over him as my Stand pulled him up and punched him again, this time slamming him onto the wall behind him.

"My Stand, **｢****The World: ACT 2****｣ **is not only stronger than before, but it has also a new ability that is fitting with how I wish to end this battle," I proclaimed dryly, snapping my fingers as a golden light coated Dio's body and sent it flying back to me in the same posture as it had soared onto the wall.

Instead of outright crashing into me, his frame was forced still by the very gold-colored aura right in front of me. My orange eyes, now lacking any mercy or compassion for the scum before me, drove a bored and furious glare onto his defying expression.

"My stand can now revert, advance and stop the time for a single object. It's not restoration or degradation, but it allows me to push around things at my whim and interest," I commented sternly. "Just like you now, a puppet for me to play with and chew properly."

The comment got a defiant struggle out of the vampire, but my Stand's ability couldn't be broken.

**｢****ACT 2****｣ **gave a silent nod before going for the grand finale. Differently from Giorno, I didn't have to worry about regulating my punches to not shove the bastard too far away as the ability kept him still right where I wanted him to be.

And so… the concert of punches began.

"**MUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDA******MUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDA**********MUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDA****MUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDA**_**\- MUDAH!**_"

The final hit on the battered body was the last moment for my ability to be active, and soon the corpse of the former Dio blitzed back on the wall and… caused the entire building behind it to explode in a conflagration. The damage accumulated during that moment of stillness had gained momentum the moment Dio was allowed to move properly within time.

I coughed some blood. I might have gone a little too far with the limit of these new abilities and… I was struggling to stay up once again.

I heard footsteps and I turned to see both Bhediya and Jonathan emerge from the now ruined entrance to the balcony.

They both looked hurt themselves with how injured they were and how damaged their clothes were.

"D-Dio, what happened to you? And where is-"

Jonathan's queries were interrupted when the ground started to shake. The entire structure was trembling furiously and I realized that my attack was perhaps to blame for this.

I gritted my teeth and nodded.

"W-We need to go," I ordered sternly, aiming at the little pedestal that was indeed keeping the plant we were searching for. "Take it. I will… I will reach you two later."

"Wait, why are you-"

"_Kaaaaahhh._"

Bhediya tensed up, his wide-eyed stare turning to the familiar body that was Hannah's and… his jaws dropped when the stone mask dropped to reveal the blood red eyes that replaced her previous blue ones.

"I said go. Both of you!"

I coughed again after that strained yell, and while the two boys hesitated just for a little longer before actually leaving, jumping off the balcony as Bhediya helped Jonathan with the landing.

I ignored the ground that was shaking beneath my feet and started to make my way towards the silent new vampire.

Giving her a sad look, I wasn't really willing to go through this terrible deed. But I had to. She merely stared at me, a tiny smile on her face… while her eyes slowly turned elsewhere.

I frowned at the strange development, following her stare up to her target, I paused as I spotted something truly odd I hadn't taken notice until that very moment.

The Golden Spin, the one sphere she had left for me to heal me up… it was still spinning. But it shouldn't be.

The true nature of the Golden Spin was not fully unraveled in the storyline of Part 7, but I knew more than enough that this wasn't supposed to be possible. And why was Hannah giving it this much attention.

Curiosity shredded through common sense as I walked to check on the sphere and… I picked it up.

I turned around to try and see what Hannah was hoping to do with this but… she was already there behind me. Her hands cupped beneath mine as she brought the sphere between our faces and… she closed her red eyes.

A strange light from the Golden Spin started to flow within the young woman, with my eyes widening in shock as I slowly studied the bizarre phenomenon unfolding so closely.

Her hands, which had been cold when she first reached for mine, were now warming up. At first I thought that it was just a trick of my mind, and attempted to dissuade me from going for the extreme deed.

Then her skin regained some pink compared to the pale white it was just moments ago.

Finally, her eyes opened and instead of red I was regaled with… a bright violet.

Her smile widened and her breathing turned more even.

"H-Hannah? What- what did you do?"

Her smile twitched at my shock and yet… she shrugged.

"I… I just wanted to live."

And somehow you managed to do so through the Golden Spin.

I was confused. Immensely so. But I was also hard-pressed to leave now that this situation was… solved? Was it? Or maybe it was just an illusion?

I wasn't unsure how to answer it and yet the ground was now giving away. We both moved, with the Golden Spin now unraveled as we started to make our way toward the edge of the balcony.

"I think I can use my Stand to-"

"I got it."

I turned at her with a frown and then… I stared up at the strange figure behind her.

It looked like a woman, with her red-skinned body covered in a white dress with green details. A large crown covering the upper section of her face, with only her mouth exposed.

She has… a stand? How- she didn't give any sign of being able to see mine so… how?

My questions went silent as this topic was soon eclipsed by another absurd development.

The ground finally collapsed and Hannah merely pulled me in a hug.

I would've expected for the two of us to fall to our deaths at that point… and yet we were _floating._

My eyes widened in shock at this unexpected escalation, my jaws dropping momentarily and then Hannah decided to giggle at my gawking.

"Be careful, Dio. You might end up with a fly in your mouth."

The teasing instantly got my mouth to shut tight, but I still regaled her with a quizzical look as I now wanted to know what was going on, how she got a Stand and… how I was going to explain this to Muddiburi.

_**And I, Dio, could already tell from the bamboozled look on both Jojo's and Bhediya's faces that it was sure going to be a nightmare to get a proper explanation out of this absurd escalation.**_

* * *

**AN**

**Some quick serious comments about the new developments.**

**New Stands' STATS**

**｢****The World: ACT 2****｣**  
**User: Dio Brando (SI)**

**Destructive Power: A**  
**Speed: A**  
**Range: D (Five Meters)**  
**Durability: C**  
**Precision: B**  
**Potential: B**

**Ability: Time Manipulation Level 2 (Reverting, stopping, or amplifying the movement of a thing or being).**

**｢****Queen of Pentacles****｣**  
**User: Hannah**

**Destructive Power: D**  
**Speed: S**  
**Range: S (Unknown)**  
**Durability: D**  
**Precision: C**  
**Potential: A**

**Ability: High-Speed Flying and Luck-based passive boost.**

**And now the Omake! **

* * *

**Omake 14: Two 'Villains' (2/2)**  
**Warning: The Fourth Wall was sent to ICU because of this omake.**

* * *

If I was honest with the entire situation, I was kind of disliking the horrible turn this unexpected encounter created out of a stupid misunderstanding.

A stupid misunderstanding that was currently worsening the predicament I was facing despite my efforts of trying to push off the current reason behind the murderous stares I was getting these many glares all at once.

The strongest of the small group of people that were currently trying to wrestle their way to take Katarina off of me.

The issue? They had to face the group of people that were close to me and were trying to defend me from the vicious assault they were planning to go through.

I wasn't much terrified. I could technically use my stand to push myself off the ground and move away from the dangerous mob. But that wouldn't work well on me considering how angry they were getting the more they were kept from recovering their uniting element.

Thinking was also a problem as the wailing of the girl that was still grasping at me as if her life depended on it. I knew that it was realistic for her entire mindset to be shaken at the revelation that we were both fake in some sense. That our realities were the result of some authors' creative mind.

It was shocking for me too… but then again the Jojoverse itself had some correlation to the chances of it all being the result of deities meddling with reality itself to ensue the greatest of amusements.

The Beyond, the metafictional capacity to subvert the plot and any threats through the favor of a being that could manipulate space and time for the sake of supporting a character, the protagonist of a story, through the worst hardships.

While this concept didn't seem to be one within this timeline, I was conscious that other timelines could influence this one and that keeping an eye out for some development in that matter was a must.

With that serious thought passing through the annoyance-filled wall that was formed before Katarina's inconsolable self, I finally managed to get a few legitimate questions to myself.

A question that got me to tense up and irk up.

_Why am I allowing this anime-like situation to continue if I'm on the right side of the argument? Why am I afraid of something if I could easily swat away anything they can throw at me?_

Indeed, why?

My lips twitched in displeasure and I carefully patted Katarina's upper back. The patting persisted until she finally dropped the whole wailing and started to pinch at my shoulders for the unpleasant sensation.

"Stop it."

"Only if you help me stop them before your friends start to fight my friends."

The stern comment got a quick frown out of the brunette, but Katarina soon turned around and saw how tense the situation was indeed worthy of some concern.

"Why are they-"

"They believe I've kidnapped you," I interjected flatly. "You really need to find a way to handle misunderstanding a little before this much happens."

She bowed her head in brief embarrassment as this was an element that she was cursed to experience ever since she was reincarnated.

While she was the friendly goofball that would hardly try to maim something or someone innocent, she was also fairly unable to settle any misunderstandings before those get out of hand.

"I'm sorry."

"I know you're trying, but I want you to do better than this," I commented kindly. "Like really, just lessen up the paranoia-"

"A-And allow the death end to happen?"

"I think you're pretty far from experiencing one."

"W-What if there was a sequel and… the original Katarina was-"

"I think whatever sequel comes out of the original story will have no correlation to what you achieved now. Stop worrying about yourself and start worrying for your friends- like Speedwagon is starting to use his hat."

That got us both to bolt to stop the escalation of the aggressive groups.

While Katarina worked to calm down her friends, I tried to sedate those I knew and cared about.

Hannah was particularly difficult to pull away from the heated bickering with Mary Hunt, the two women exchanging quite the vicious comments and growing more and more pissed by the minute.

In the end, any violence was prevented and nobody got hurt from the lengthy clash, but still the discussion that ensued ended up spanning several minutes worth of nerve-wracking questioning and answering.

It was implicit among Katarina and me that if we discussed the real reason behind our decision to trust each other, the situation would turn badly on us both.

Secrecy and lying were implemented, and it all worked out well for the two of us.

With my group believing in my truthfulness, while the others would never expect Katarina to be a little more than a weird-minded airhead, the process of convincing both parties ended up surprisingly well.

The discussion didn't extend for long as the portal was coming close to shut down, forcing the Katarina's group to leave as quickly as they could.

The farewells were quick and somewhat hasty, but a shared promise was signed through a single stare between the girl and I.

A promise of self-improvement, but also investigation for the truth.

Who was the one behind my ordeal? Who was my pseudo-Beyond!?

* * *

"Man, I should've finished that shower earlier and- Uh?"

…

_A frown. _"I don't recall writing this much..."

…

_A shrug._ "Heh, maybe I forgot. Wouldn't be the first time.

_**And with that, Bukharin decided to end that chapter with a simple AN. Already craving some sleep at the late hour.**_

* * *

**AN**

**You were expecting a simple AN, but it was I, a more serious AN!**

**Because yes, I decided to leave this little AN to indicate the fact that two more Omake remains before the end of ARC 1 and… the beginning of the little three-chapters long mid-quel. A tiny story that 'might have happened' between ARC 1 and before ARC 2.**

**Why do I repeat this so much? Some readers tend to troll around by 'nagging' or whining that they didn't know this was happening. I know that some have legitimate worries and… I think it's time to open a little Q&A about this little segment. Do ask about this little xover, and I will grant you as many answers I can without spoilering the plot or ruining the immersion in case you wish to see the madness unfold.**

**REVIEW Q&A!**

**TITAN URANUS****: The culprit was barely mentioned, but the real explanation will come in the finale of the Arc 1 from the mouth of the real 'villain' of this first part of the long story.**

**HateReborn27****: I can see Dio rocking the Supreme King's deck. Just saying.**

**The Keeper of Worlds****: It wasn't Wang Chan.**


	20. Giovinezza (19)

**DISCLAIMER**

**The following is a fan-based**

**FICTION**

**All Parts of the JJBA are all owned by Hirohiko Araki. **

**Please Support the Official Release!**

* * *

**Capitolo Primo: Giovinezza (19)**

* * *

I woke up staring at the ceiling of my room.

There was silence, I felt safe. And yet I was tense for some reasons.

Breathe in, breathe out.

For a moment I closed my eyes, allowing any unnecessary emotion to slowly subside. I didn't need to panic or worry.

We won that battle, and we surely came back home without any worrying injury that should've put me in that state of dread.

Yet it would be wrong to say that, with all the positive things that have happened as the deadly situation with the alternate Dio had come to an end, everything was fine.

It wasn't. Or at least, I knew it shouldn't have.

My brain wasn't tired, nor did I hallucinate as I saw the horrible ordeal happen. I blinked again, trying to rationalize how Hannah managed to fight off vampirism.

Could it be that the Stone Mask didn't work? Impossible. The device was meant to vampirize humans, no matter how strong their mental fortitude.

It killed and reanimated, it destroyed the soul and then revitalized the body to keep fighting against any threat to the user.

_Why did things like this have to be so complicated?_

I wasn't someone that shied from handling massive plot points, nor was I really annoyed by the immense discovery that I accidentally made that night.

Hannah… She wasn't a vampire.

The warmth of her body was too human-like, and the change with her eye color was to show that something was indeed different with her.

And yet, even though I knew that the young woman that was devoted to my cause wasn't a blood-sucker… I also knew that she wasn't human either.

The brainstorm began with the ludicrous possibility that she somehow became a Pillar Man.

Why was it ludicrous? The real purpose of the Stone Mask was to mutate the user to adapt to the natural weaknesses of the bloody Aztec hunks. The sun… the mask was created with the idea of being combined with the Red Stone of Aja, all to adapt the Pillar Men's bodies to withstand sunlight.

The fact it could turn humans into vampires? A secondary effect. One that not even I was sure was expected or not.

Thus Hannah wasn't a 'Pillar Woman'. I could only have nightmares of a bulkier version of her storming around to give me sudden back-crushing hugs.

As much as I cared for her, I wasn't planning to die by cuddling. It just didn't feel divine enough.

Huffing, I tried to sit on the mattress instead of lying down. In that position, I was starting to get annoyed as the sheets were pressing over what I could only describe as bandages.

I still got an unpleasant beating while fighting my older counterpart, and I knew that even with Hamon I would still require a couple of days to properly recover from that frustrating state of body.

Yet, I was still able to sit and think some more as I allowed my body to shake off the last vestiges of sleepiness.

My sharp mind needed to work at 100% since the topic I needed to unravel was too important to be dealt otherwise.

Thus I pondered… and some more. But there was so much that had been left untouched about the matter.

Details that would help me formulate a logical conclusion to the insanity I had witnessed happening the day before.

I huffed again, this time because I decided to get off the bed. I was donning my pants while my chest was mostly exposed. I was bandaged heavily by my right arm, and I could tell my legs were garbed with some medical cloth too by the way those felt tightly pressed.

I could stand up, but I was limping a little bit because of how strained both limbs were.

Grimacing, I remembered just in time that my Stand had evolved, and its range had increased.

"**｢****ACT 2****｣****.**"

It was immediate, and I didn't even think much about it. Before my legs could've given up under my weight, the humanoid rushed to the wardrobe to pick something I was gifted by someone from the Ghost Club.

A cane made of refined yew. It was thick, it was resilient and… it would do to give me some support as I started making my way out of my room and right to where Hannah was.

If I knew her well enough, she had to have lingered around the manor while I was unconscious… and now that George was fine, I expected a lot of my lies to come out all at once the moment I crossed path with the man.

That sounded unpleasant, but taking under consideration how important it was for me to study Hannah from a closer look, I had to bite the bullet and take the risk of getting yelled at.

The hallway was devoid of life, and I took the opportunity to cross it as quickly as my currently crippled self could. Moving with a cane was a new experience, but not one I was optimally disliking since it gave me the chance of moving around with the least amount of pain possible.

My good luck lasted about… ten minutes. I was taking a turn to arrive at the main staircase, from there searching for places like the dining room or the living room to where Hannah could be.

Heck, even the library could've been a good place to check, but I wasn't exactly elaborating a massive plan to find the young woman… and I was distracted by a particularly problematic sight as I arrived to see an unexpected arrival.

On a positive note, Hannah was there, with her Stand deployed and behind a serious-looking Muddiburi.

On a terrible note, they were standing against the group of Ripple users made by Zeppeli, Tonpetty, Dire, Straizo.

Coincidence? Maybe, but I wasn't exactly planning to stay idle as the scene unfolded.

"Once again-" A voice declared with a stern and uncompromising tone started, having me stop for a moment to notice that Hannah and Muddiburi weren't the only ones there. "This is my property, I don't care for an accusation that is baseless against someone I consider an honorable guest of my manor. I will ask you this just once more… leave."

George looked positively incensed as he addressed the intrusion. I wasn't sure how much had happened, nor how the man came to actually defend the bizarre individuals I had brought from 'work', but I was pleased nonetheless by this development.

_Hopefully, this also means that I will not get lynched by the man about lying about this much stuff._

Glancing around one last time, I saw two familiar heads partly hidden by the staircase's handling. Bhediya and Jonathan. I guess they too were there to try and make a stand against the intruders… and part of me wanted to know how they would currently fare against them.

Probably badly considering they had just begun learning Hamon.

"Lord Joestar, the woman is not a human being, but something that was born from a nefarious tool that has been used to cripple humanity's innocence," Zeppeli tried to appease. "While I understand this sounds absurd, it is the truth. My master can tell that-

"My _brother _can only sense that her lifeforce isn't humane anymore," Muddiburi interrupted dryly, staring at his sibling in a moment of tension and frustration. "There are already many details that disprove this assumption."

The monk aimed at the windows around that bathed the run with sunlight.

"Starting from the blatant fact that young Hannah is currently under the Sun as we speak!"

It was undeniable evidence that couldn't be scoffed at. Vampires and Zombies would perish under the rays of the sun, and yet Hannah looked particularly fine in that condition much to the confusion of the Ripple users.

"She is no longer human," Tonpetty calmly remarked. "Even though she isn't burning under the pure light of the sun, that doesn't mean that she still owns a soul after being subjected at the Stone Mask."

...Wait, how does he know that-

_P-Premonition!? I forgot about that._

The man used it with Zeppeli, but to believe that he would be able to use it without being in physical range with someone… How does that technique work?

Is that what Muddiburi had used on me for a long time now?

I was confused, intrigued by the scope of such a limitless ability… but my mind soon returned to the heated conversation as I kept on eavesdropping.

"Is this what the clan turned into? Guilt before innocence?" My teacher accused, drawing an unhappy look from his brother.

"It's not that easy. You… you didn't have the chance to see the truth about these horrible objects. The _monsters _that created those."

He knew of the Pillar Men. He had to. There was no way he would make that affirmation and be unaware of the truth about these 'monsters'.

…

Why didn't he say anything before dying then!? Why did it all have to come up as a surprise that almost killed the world as a whole?!

I was growing vexed the more I listened, but I knew that acting now would just make things worse. And I wasn't in a good state to do anything… which is why I was pumping as much Hamon as I could to speed up my recovery process.

_Almost there._

"I-It still doesn't justify attacking someone that did nothing wrong!"

This time it was Jonathan that spoke up.

"How could you speak of doing good things when you yourselves are giving no chance to those different from us?"

"Because these beings are dangerous and can't be allowed to be left unchecked, young man," Dire replied curtly. "While it's indeed unpleasant to be handling this unusual situation, our reasoning isn't without foundation."

"That woman, she lost her humanity by using the Stone Mask-"

"H-How dare you!" Hannah finally snapped, looking as angry as she could get from that heavy accusation. "I'm quite fine. I don't feel any different- except furious at being subjected to this slander!"

Her tone and posture surprisingly got the Ripple users to back away for a moment, all except for Tonpetty as the elder studied her with a confused look.

I sighed. She will never change in that regard…

My wounds were finally closed up, and I felt the soreness vanishing as soon as the girl was done with her rebuttal.

I decided against waiting any longer and, after leaving the cane to lean on the nearby wall, I started to make my way towards the stairs. Descending slowly from those, my steps were loud and quick to gain the attention of everyone in the entrance room as silence tried and failed to impose itself after Hannah was done.

"Dio?" The woman was the first one to greet me, a smile adorning her face… as if the frustrating scene happening seconds earlier was completely forgotten.

"Hannah, I see that you're… well."

A nod, and then a worried glance was directed at me. "You're still-"

"No."

The quick response got a surprised glimpse from her eyes, but she quickly nodded at my sudden rebuttal. I finally arrived at the end of the stairs and nodded at Muddiburi.

The man looked relieved, but there was still tension that was directed at his brother.

Speaking of which, Tonpetty looked completely surprised by my appearance.

As I took steps to walk around the fellow monk and towards him and his students, I saw him tense up and become more guarded. He was bracing for me to attack… and yet I had adopted the most serene posture to handle this troublesome group.

I was surprised they arrived now of all times possible, but I wasn't really disappointed by this matter as now I could make a couple of statements about them.

Stopping just a couple of meters from them, I spoke.

"Master Tonpetty, I've heard many good things about you and your students," I muttered politely. "Yet, the situation we all found ourselves meeting is rather unpleasant. If not unnecessary."

…

"Mostly correct," The elder admitted. "That woman. You're close to her."

I blinked in surprise. "Why, yes. Hannah is a dear friend of mine. One that you have unfortunately targeted with insults and baseless accusations."

"She was tainted by the Stone Mask."

"Mostly correct… but also not," I rebuked mirthfully, drawing a frown from the old Ripple Master. "You see, something of a miracle happened shortly after she was turned by the Stone Mask. Something that should by all mean be impossible to achieve in normal circumstances but, taking in consideration the raw stress and pressure exerted on her mind, it would explain why she managed such a feat."

I turned to glance at the girl, looking at me in utter confusion.

"Hannah, I suppose your Spin has improved ever since last night."

The comment got a hesitant nod from her, but soon the girl seemed to realize what I was asking for her as she started to spin one of her pellets and… it happened.

Instead of white, the ball was glowing a bright gold.

"I-Is that… Hamon?" Straizo asked in shock, looking bewildered by the odd technique.

"No," Tonpetty answered. "The energy is similar… but there is none of the lifeforce Hamon uses."

"Indeed. What you're seeing there is the Spin. Something I've learned about months ago and… that can be considered the prime responsible for Hannah's bizarre situation," I resumed with a smile. "The Spin is normally incapable of doing much except changing some 'elements' of an object or an individual if the user knows precisely how the change has to naturally incur. But when it takes that color, when it unlocks its full potential in the form of the Golden Spin… reality becomes easier to mold about even when the user has limited knowledge of what they wish to change."

"But how does this apply to the situation?" Tonpetty. "Without a soul, there is nothing that your friend could've done to restore it and revert to humanity."

"Indeed, she didn't have a soul for a time… but the Golden Spin was unleashed shortly before losing her soul," I revealed with a convinced tone. "And from what I could remember when I was in the proximity of that light… I was given sight over her memories and the emotions tied to those."

…!

"She- She copied her soul?" Anthonio suggested in utter shock. "She actually managed to create a full copy of her soul… and then absorb it after she was able to detach the mask from herself."

"That's completely correct," I confirmed with a nod. "Which is why this is a miracle as… the Spin, by all means, shouldn't have been able to make this grand feat without an absurd feat of divine nature, one that Hannah displayed in the darkest of time."

…

"You're telling the truth," Tonpetty muttered with a surprised tone. "And… this Spin, I assume you yourself can use it."

I nodded, replicating Hannah's example but with my Spin still being silvery instead of the heavenly yellow of its complete form. The sight got a confused frown from me as I realized that, while I 'knew' how to do it, my body was still unable to replicate that phenomenon.

It was an annoying revelation, but one that didn't inherently screwed my chances of fully unlocking the Spin's potential. In fact, now I had higher chances of seeing it completed in a month or two of hard training.

"Master, while I know that your wisdom never tricks you… could it be that the situation is different than the boy is showing it to you?" Zeppeli inquired with a tense look. "I understand that he had been peaceful now but-"

"Young Zeppeli, I appreciate your concern, but I know the truth when I hear it," The old master interjected. "Your worry is driven by the past events that made you hate the Stone Mask and all its products, but for this hate to influence your good heart… you should meditate about it."

He bowed his head instead of protesting, seemingly quick to back away if Tonpetty said so even in such a limited fashion.

Without any reason to linger about in the manor, the Ripple Users proceeded to apologize about their unexpected visit, mostly to George as the man was the owner of the place.

They then proceeded to leave the premises of the mansion, making their way to their carriages before parting for London and… leaving me to handle the aftermath of this encounter.

I looked around, greeting the people there with a calm smile… until I found myself staring at the older Joestar and noticed the look that I knew only as the prelude of a lengthy lecture and chiding from him.

One that was legitimate by all means… but that I really wasn't hoping to be subjected to.

Despite my best interests to not deal with this situation, I was still pulled to face that conversation a couple of minutes later and after one of the servants had one of my shirts and jacket fetched for me to wear for the occasion.

_**This was going to be rather unpleasant.**_

* * *

The office room that was George Joestar's was uncharacteristically quiet despite the man seemed so close to finally allow all the questions and the confusion crashed down on me as I took a seat by the usual chair.

We stared at each other, and I felt oddly nervous by the fact we were the only individuals in the room.

Jojo wanted to be there too, same for Hannah, but the nobleman decided against permitting others to sit for this conversation.

…

"Are your wounds still aching?"

…

"No."

He looked relieved. "That's good to know."

Silence returned again, and I felt the build up coming to nothing after a while.

"Are you angry, Lord Joestar?"

He sighed at my query, but he gave me a blank expression instead of a telling one about his mood.

"I'm… concerned. And feeling a sense of betrayal at the fact that you keep so much from me."

I squirmed in my chair, and I decided against poking the hornets' nest any longer. I wasn't sure what was going on inside the man's head, and I wasn't planning to risk myself to discover his real mood.

"I just learned that you trained in some mystical arts, that you created an organization that is just recently starting to make a name for its actions, and then that you're tied with a club led by some influential politicians in London."

Keeping quiet, I tried to limit the damage to something bearable. Maybe I could 'live' through this without losing all respects I had accumulated from the man.

I knew I was playing some dangerous gamble here but… it wasn't like I had a real choice on the matter.

As much as George was someone that had little impact on my life up until now, if he decided that the best retaliation was to shun me and bring up to attention my work with 'Made in Heaven', then the whole situation would take a sharp downward turn. One that I could recover, but at a heavy price and after a long time of attentive planning.

"I feel the need to ask so many questions despite how much I was told. All of them praised you for being a kind person no matter the circumstances… and yet I find myself doubting this fact with how intricate this web of deception you've created is," The man resumed with the same intensity and aggravation. "I put my trust on you to grow and… you keep it. But you also went behind my back to do so much that, albeit good in most part, put you in a troublesome position. One that not only would've put you in peril, but you also allowed for Jojo to be part of this."

…

"Speak. I want to hear from you now. Anything will be taken as it is delivered," George demanded quietly. "You… You can't just allow this all to pass without giving some answer. To be respectful of whatever moral integrity you've for so long prided yourself for."

And now that got me annoyed. Morality _was _something I still valued, and for it to be threatened like this… well, I had to speak now.

But I had to be careful as each word would now be valued with a greater weight than usual.

"My name is Dio Brando," I started to say with a calm voice. "I'm fifteen years old. My father was Dario Brando, a drunkard, and my mother was a hopeless woman that lost her dream to be happy. I lived in the slums for years, becoming familiar with the plight of those that were born in my same conditions. And from that life I created a dream. One that became possible only after I was taken in by George Joestar, the man responsible for the success of the Joestar Trade Company and the father of Jonathan Joestar."

"..."

He was listening. At least this seemed to be working well for him.

But let's not stop here… it was sure going to be a long train ride to painland.

"I started with little. I studied how things worked- how people handled their plights, and I realized that all those individuals had to go through the misery of having no safe net. No warm bed, no sure meals, no means to know that they will be alive the moment they close their eyes."

"Dio-"

"I had to do something. Because if I decided to not do anything, I would've become part of a system that doesn't work. A system that can't be opposite in the open and that only by turning and twisting its rules one can hope to make the difference," I interrupted, unwilling to let go of the ball now that I was in control of the conversation. "'Made in Heaven' was created for this purpose. To reform society into something built by tolerance, respect of all lives, and justice for those that are wronged by the unfairness of life."

"What about those talks about… magic?"

"The Ripple, or Hamon, is more of a lifestyle that hovers about the manipulation of life energy. Every living being can attain it through duress and training, and this can be used as a substitute to sunlight when fighting vampires and zombies," I explained with a nod. "The Spin… I've already explained it when our 'visitors' were still there."

George nodded. "I see..."

…

"Despite my reluctance to say this… I think I have to mention that you did lie about something just with that explanation of yours. And while the lie is more of an easy mistake to make… I find myself forced to forward you this," The nobleman quietly mentioned before pushing a piece of paper across his desk for me to pick.

I did so, and my mind swiftly contemplated all possible outcomes.

Was he finally kicking me out? Was this document going to annul any debt the man felt toward Dario? That he didn't recognize me as his ward?

So many ways to screw me up, but none actually came close to what the paper itself was trying to 'force me to do'.

In fact, my brain had to reboot the moment I was done reading the lengthy document I was presented with.

…

…

"Is this… true?"

George nodded, and he looked really uneasy in keeping up with this act. Because of course he would've thought of this as a possible solution to prevent me from going too crazy with my plans.

The document wasn't something that messed up with my current life. It actually… cemented it.

"You want to adopt me. After all what had just happened."

"Especially after what had happened," The man corrected. "You may or may not take in the name Joestar from now on, but you will not be recognized as the heir despite the fact you're Jojo's senior by a couple of months."

"I'm… fine with this. This is Jojo's future."

The older Joestar sighed in relief at that response.

"I hope you understand that from now on I will be checking from time to time with your investments. I will not push you to outright follow a different path you have going… but I will scrutinize you if something feels unnecessary or unproductive."

I nodded at that imposition. It wasn't good, but it wasn't horrible to handle with proper care.

"And lastly… I want you to study to get a degree."

I gritted my teeth at that final point.

"You mean-"

"You will go to a university and, once you're done with all tests, you will get a proper degree."

"What if I ended up getting one, still on my own… but without bribery?"

…

"Are you trying to say that you think you can rush the exams and get one?"

I nodded. "Yes."

"If you can afford doing so without ruining the family's honor and pride, then I see no reason to veto this decision."

I nodded. "I understand, Lord Joestar."

He sighed tiredly, catching me off-guard with that sudden change of mood.

"Dio… if you accept the document, I will only accept 'father' and other titles akin to that one."

I frowned at that unexpected demand. Like, I was expecting him to be quite pushy with his points… but to this degree?

I wasn't sure how to deal with the new change in the status quo… but now I had some new objectives to go through.

And while George expected for me to live a normal life now that all threats had been handled, the man was naively unaware that this was the last challenge to abandon my childhood, my giovinezza.

_**Because, much to his immense surprise and glee, I, Dio, would end up getting a degree in law by the time I became eighteen. And from there… The story takes an odd turn of events even for someone like me.**_

* * *

**AN**

**Next chapter is the end of the childhood, the age of dreams comes to a conclusion as the next one will finally reveal what's next in Dio's own adventures. Some will be surprised, some will be shocked, while I know many will be pleased with what I've in mind.**

**P.S. I played JJBA the Seventh Stand User. Man, the Sacrifice End was a pain in the butt to get through… but Miracles happened, hehe.**

**And now the omake!**

* * *

**Omake 15: A name for the Gig**

* * *

"Okay, I understand that you all might find the reason for this meeting quite childish, but it's important that we do this as a team rather as a group with an absolute leader and submitted minions."

Hannah lifted a hand up.

"Yes?"

"I don't see a problem with that misunderstanding-"

"Hannah."

"Apologies, Dio."

I sighed tiredly as I addressed the rest of the group I had assembled.

"The job is simple. I need each of you to offer some suggestions to the name of this company," I explained with a nod. "I trust you all to not give me headaches with the naming process, don't make me regret this belief."

They all nodded, and I allowed the first one to speak.

Jonathan looked fairly composed as he was allowed to speak. He stood up from his chair as he addressed the rest of the group.

Surely, someone as gentlemanish and polite as the youth would offer some decent suggestion about it.

"Considering that we're all here for a noble goal while also vouching ourselves as the paladins of this change," He started with a genuinely good build up. "How about… Divine Crusaders?"

...Is that the phone? I think Araki is preparing a lawsuit over the distasteful pun.

Despite my quick need to let out a 'fuck no', I merely decided with something a little less brutal.

"Jojo, while I appreciate the enthusiasm, I remind you that the organization is based on trading first, and providing for the people later. And Crusaders weren't exactly the… brightest examples of good people."

"What? Why not?"

My frown deepened at that confused rebuttal. "Jonathan… you know that the templars, also called the crusaders, are rumored to have eaten babies during the crusades, right?"

"WHAT?" Bhediya shouted while covering a confused Sarah's ears from the atrocity I just sprouted.

"D-Dio, surely that is an overstatement-"

"The chronicle of Randulph of Caen is highly-debated, but I'm pretty sure Fulcher of Chartres is well-accepted as the basis of that rumor."

It was a horrible bomb to drop, but I really didn't want to be called a Crusader.

Good grief, spare me the horrified looks now…

"Now, I think it's the turn of… Robert."

The man nodded, standing up and smiling as he seemed ready to give a brilliant choice.

I was already bracing as I knew this was going to be a long and frustrating line of humiliating suggestions.

"Well, just like you have said now, Dio, I think we should aim for something simple and… humble," The fellow blond stated. "Which is why I think 'Brando Foundation' might be a good and catchy candidate."

Good, but not catchy. And by good, I mean that I would've to handle some PTSD at attaching the surname of the drunk bastard that was Dario Brando to the… brand.

The Brando brand. Oh no, this is not gonna fly that well…

"An interesting take, but I think we should aim for something less attached to me. I'm not that… tied to the image of the company."

I turned to Bhediya… and the werewolf merely shrugged, causing me to frown in confusion.

"You don't have anything?"

"It's a little sudden, and I don't have much to offer right now."

Sounds… actually fair. I wasn't exactly forcing them to do this, and I took this chance to sigh in relief at the fact I was being spared from being subjected to this too extensively.

"It's fine," I calmly accepted. "But if you have any suggestions after hearing the others, feel free to offer."

The young man nodded in appreciation, and soon I was looking at… "Hannah, I suppose you have a-"

"I have an idea!"

I paused, turning at the origin of that interruption. Sarah was smiling widely and I felt ensnared by her childish cuteness to look away.

It was a trap, one that I had been lulled by being too confident of my personal ability to appear lovable.

"S-Sure. What do you… have in mind, Sarah?"

The tiny brunette opened her mouth wide open, taking in as much air she could with her lungs… and then she spoke up.

"Slaves to Fate!"

My jaws slowly dropped and my eyes widened in surprise.

"W-What?"

"Friends of Peace."

…

"Did she say that the first time around?"

The rest of the cast nodded, giving me a confused frown before I accepted it as the truth.

Maybe the 'game' was starting to get to my head… like how would Sarah know about 'that' scary thing?

It's not canon to begin with… and yet many things had derailed since day one.

"Well sweetie, the name is nice, but we need something that can be seen as tough. Still, I will probably keep it to be used in a proper organization I might leave to you."

Her eyes widened in delight at the promise while her brother gave me a legitimate look at giving his younger sibling that much power once things were set for us all.

"REALLY!?"

I nodded and she celebrated in Bhediya's arms… while I quickly turned to Hannah to put an end to this madness.

"H-Hannah, your suggestion."

The woman nodded, appearing surprisingly modest despite the monumental task at hand.

"I've been thinking this properly from Jonathan's choice to my turn, and I believe I've come up with the proper name for your organization, Dio."

"Our organization," I corrected calmly. "We are all in this together."

"But you created it, and you lead us towards a shiny path of Justice and truth. Which is why I believe the name 'Passion' would fit well with our heart-driven sense of humanity."

That's surprisingly good. Actually, it was one of the best I could find in the rack right now.

I mean, that would end up with Diavolo having to change his gang's name to something different… but that wouldn't be much of a change.

But just as I was about to take it as the winner and get done with this, my eyes settled for someone I had forgotten about.

"Oh Erina, I almost forgot about you."

The girl, which was standing right beside Hannah, giggled at the honest comment, shaking her head mirthfully before addressing the situation.

"It's alright, Dio. I tend to be rather quiet and… easy to forget from time to time," She admitted with a hint of sadness. "But I believe I have a name that might fit with the company… if I may offer it to you."

I nodded. "Sure."

"Well, like Hannah just said, I think you are still the leader of something beautiful. You lead us, it's true, but you leave us to tend to our own duties, and to guide us in the most righteous of paths before the Lord's way."

...I felt interested by the take, and I nodded at her to continue.

"That's why I believe this company seems to have been… 'Made in Heaven'."

My jaws almost dropped again at that, but not just by surprise at the curious coincidence… but because I deviously found the name fitting.

To name an organization meant to help humanity to prosper with the name of a Stand that was used to reject the worth of humanity as a whole just stirred my malicious bone against Pucci.

…

"Erina, forgive me if I ask you this so suddenly… but weren't you and Jonathan planning to go to a date tomorrow morning?"

The blonde blushed at the query, but nodded despite the embarrassment. "Y-yes."

…

"Have you two already chosen where to go?" I asked quietly, making it look like the topic had changed without any reason.

Jojo looked confused, but replied in his fiance's stead.

"We were thinking to one of the theaters, but the tickets are expensive and-"

"Just give me a place. One of the many."

Erina blinked and… sighed. "I would like to go at the Shakespeare's Globe, but it's expensive and-"

"Done."

…

"D-Dio," Jojo tried to rebuff, but I was smiling smugly.

"I believe Erina's suggestion has won the argument, Jojo. And I think she deserves to be treated well by my young brother… which is why I will allow you as a gift the proper price for two tickets at the Shakespeare's Globe."

They both tried to counter this, but I was set about this.

The others were fine with it, except maybe for Hannah. The young woman seemed to grow compliant the moment I offered her some hugs whenever she wanted, preventing my plans of matching them closer to fall apart because of her pouting.

_**With that decision set, the day at 'Made In Heaven' resumed without any problem… except for the antics created by Hannah's unexpected scares by jumping on me for hugs.**_

* * *

**AN**

**Made in Heaven! Made in heaveeen~!**

**REVIEW Q&A!**

**Superpierce****: Maybe Giorno's theme? It's considered a more heroic version to Dio's Dark Rebirth, so that does work well I suppose.**

**Ascandas****: Dio isn't planning to become ultimate being right now, but the Red stone of Aja will be important next arc.**

**The Keeper of Worlds****: And he did much worse than what the current arc has shown…**


	21. Giovinezza (20)

**DISCLAIMER**

**The following is a fan-based**

**FICTION**

**All Parts of the JJBA are all owned by Hirohiko Araki. **

**Please Support the Official Release!**

* * *

**Capitolo Primo: Giovinezza (20)**

* * *

1884\. Three years sure fly quickly when you don't have any major obstacles in your way.

Humming quietly as I continued to read today's paper, I couldn't help but sigh in contempt at the serious backlash the papacy was suffering ever since the massive mistake committed just mere months ago.

The Humanum Genus Encyclical was originally meant to be seen as a shield for supporters of the Church within everyone's daily life. It condemned Freemasonry, but not because of the secrecy of those societies… rather the opposite.

The pope was 'afraid' that the new openness of some societies in promoting changes like public education devoid of major catholic influence, popular sovereignty, and separation between state and Church. These were legitimate fears, but not for those that rallied behind the religion, but for those that sought to control the masses through it.

While I didn't appreciate the vision Marx had for the ideal society, mostly his poor understanding of human greed in keeping hold of transitional governments meant to exist only for the sake of perpetrating a proper utopia, I still saw his study over history as one of the most accurate in current times.

Rich people waged wars to keep power, and the poor people were naively driven into committing horrible deeds in the name of faux ideals.

The crusades were a shining example of the papacy interest in gaining control and momentum against Islam, only to realize a little too late that their enemies were far more numerous and less interested in converting to Rome's rule.

Almost nine centuries after the first crusade, and the Papal States were reminded that their 'peace' wasn't an eternal one.

With the Italian reunification well underway, and King Victor-Emanuel outright ignoring threats of excommunication, it was just a miracle that the new monarch of the peninsula hadn't punished severely the 'traitorous' Holy See for betraying a cause that it had pledged support just a couple of years before the unification… only to backstab the union of states rallied against foreign invasion.

I sighed again, this time bashing my own interest in my former homeland's history, as I knew that I couldn't exactly tie myself to it once more. Not when I was busy handling far more important matters.

Three years saw a massive growth for my affairs. I was limited from 'gambling' too much since George would end up keeping with his promise of watching over my decisions and sometimes even veto those few risky moves that I would bring forward, mostly in cases where I wasn't able to give a good enough reason to go through with those.

He wasn't too nosy, nor too pushy over his own 'reluctance' on the topic, but I could tell that with each success, he was slowly gaining a degree of new respect for me. And not the kind one would usually give to a young teen.

In his eyes, I was already consolidating a mentality that had been there from the beginning. A level of maturity that was ever-present in my capacity to make choices that many of my peers just lacked, or had just started to tap into.

I was winning not by luck, but by cautious planning and daring execution. At first I was more than glad to open up to him about any affairs related to trade or internal businesses… but soon I found myself lying again about a couple of secret ordeals caused by Made in Heaven.

Not because of any malicious intent, but rather for the magnitude those 'attacks' ended up achieving.

The first domino to fall was the foundation of a party that opposed the two main political forces.

I was tempted to call it the Labor Party, but then I decided to settle for something a little less 'socialist' and 'worrying' for nobles.

The National Popular Party was meant as a group of people that aimed in creating the best society within the British Empire.

'Founded' by a group of like-minded intellectuals that were 'surprisingly' supported by my organization, the political assemble saw a brilliant success in the 1883 General Elections. Persuading Prime Minister Gladstone to retire, now old and tired to keep on with his battles for reform, proved to be easier than expected, but the elections still saw a need for the new party to ally itself with the Liberals.

A large majority was found with that coalition, and a mixed ministry was formed under the careful rule of T.H. Williams.

The man was one of the least known members of the Liberal Party, and I was quite sure I hadn't heard of anyone with his name while I was busy studying the topic until his candidacy. The choice wasn't one without merit, at least that was what I could tell after just a year of working as the head of the new government.

Williams was a staunch supporter for a new take on current politics, more than once condemning the bickering that would be responsible for the killing of many important bills that were necessary to transition the British society towards the approaching Twentieth Century.

He strongly vouched for the coalition that ended up with the formation of a strong cabinet that had enough force to push for some major changes.

The first big battle was the heated debate of Irish Sovereignty. Back in the original timeline, the setting of such affairs would only end up with the Easter Uprising and the Irish War of Independence, but in those crucial years, a well-thought bill was issued to satisfy most of the parliament.

The Irish Parliaments Act of 1884 passed just earlier that year, and much to my relief nothing suggested for any disasters… yet. Taking under consideration the grand divide between the Ulster Protestants and the Dublin Catholics, the decision to create two separate parliaments was met with mixed reactions.

Some radicals condemned the Act as an instrument to divide and keep control of Ireland, demanding for Dublin to obtain full control of the island's politics, but those voices went unheard as most of the Irish people saw it as a step in the right direction.

The IPA was recognized as one of the most elaborated settlements that many Irish politicians would have hoped to achieve after the strong resistance to reform shown in the last decades.

It wasn't much of a surprise that several Liberal-Unionists decided to stick within the Liberal Party instead of leaving at the call of their Conservative counterparts.

The new reform was seen as a breath of relief for many, and nobody wanted to upset the balance just yet- at least, not without a good enough reason to handle the spotlight.

More changes, like public education and universal suffrage, were still being debated even now that I was away from my office, and with the House of Lords mostly supportive of the government, it was clear that a good part of those reforms was going to be implemented.

And with the British political landscape largely secured under my indirect control, I found my stare moved to Europe… but not to the politics of the continents.

Sure, I felt confident now that I had a foothold in the Isles, but I knew better than risking myself by being too daring. For now any efforts of expansion were solely limited with Made in Heaven, as I was well-aware the organization was going to find fertile soil to become fruitful even beyond its original home.

The group was finally well-established as a legitimate organization. The leadership was mostly kept unknown, with just a handful of rich people knowing the truth- those that I knew could handle the truth without being fools and ruin it all.

I decided to wait until I was at least twenty, just enough time to profess myself as an experienced young man with a good eye for investments.

And right now that I was barely recognized as an adult, I needed to still make several steps to assure that kind of reputation.

The first of those being right in front of me as I walked out of the carriage that took me here in Plymouth, with my smile twitching between excitement and nervousness as I stared at the ship that was going to take me to the United States.

_Yep, I'm going for a trip across the pond._

Having taken the initiative to set foot on the American continent to expand the reach of Made in Heaven, I decided to just have Speedwagon as my companion for this journey.

The decision was driven by the fact that in the original timeline he was behind the discovery of massive oil reserves and other rich resources that favored the creation of the Speedwagon Foundation.

If he was to do the same as part of my organization, then things were going to get better way faster than initially planned.

I paused for a moment as I looked around for any signs of the fellow blond.

_He couldn't be late. Heck, I had him arrive in the city a couple days later just to avoid any lateness from him._

Sighing at the annoying circumstance, I decided to wait for him within the ship. He was going to arrive just in time before the ship left and… I needed some time alone to think about this big step I was about to go through with.

I decided to reveal this ambitious plan only after I was done dealing with two major events that happened just earlier this year.

First, I had to cut the restraints that George had over me by studying my way to acquire a degree in law. The man was baffled when I spent two full years of free time with my nose stuck on old and dusty books about Law, outright skipping formal education and demanding a graduation test.

A bold claim that could've easily screwed with all plans I had at the moment if I failed, but just right as I wanted, I ended up passing with flying colors.

The second, and perhaps the most important event of 1884, was the wedding between Jonathan and Erina. I had expected for them to marry earlier than in canon, but I hadn't expected for it to be 'that' early.

George was quick to bless the union, same for the blonde's father as both men agreed that this would only favor both families in the long-term.

I was more than happy to provide them with a couple of gifts, nothing excessively expensive or inadequate for their tastes, but they seemed to appreciate the ceremony and the celebrations that ensued shortly after.

The only awkward element of that beautiful day was that I was asked a very difficult question. One that actually put me under some pressure from various people since I ended up answering weakly at said query.

**When are you going to marry Hannah?**

_When I find the proper ring to give her._

While many saw it as a deflection from my part to not handle the situation just yet, Hannah actually seemed to accept it as a good enough response to that big step.

Ever since her 'change' into something slightly beyond human, things had taken a rather curious turn in our relationship. And even though the friendship was preserved for about a year and a half after battling my vampiric counterpart, we ended up considering going 'forward' about the situation.

Nothing too sudden or too awkward considering how 'young' I was, but we started to hang out around London. There wasn't much to say about 'external' topics since we worked closely back at the headquarters, and we both knew how things were in that regard.

Sillier subjects were quick to be brought up, mostly by Hannah, as the young woman seemed to appreciate these moments rather than plan out for a 'successful hangout'. Then again, I was the one obsessive over flawless victories, so it wasn't her fault that I was such a dolt during those times.

I would ask of her personal day, the hours she would spend away from my vicinity. Albeit a little creepy, it was just 'polite' to tease a little bit over her previous obsessive mannerism.

Things had changed for Hannah, and not just about her work. Ever since Made in Heaven became a legitimate company, wages were dispensed to all workers and the large sums of money given to the 'leading clique' were properly spent in the housing situation.

Hannah decided to settle for a modest house near the Thames, one that had a small inner garden that she would visit from time to time to either relax or train with me.

As a way to disprove any malicious changes in her body that could be correlated to a dark being, I decided to aid her in learning some basis for Hamon. It was tough at first since her mind was mostly geared to practice the Spin.

The moment I managed to have her tap in the Ripple, I couldn't help but gawk at her reserves. It was far from mine, and I would've put her at the level Bhediya had when he first started with this practice.

One thing led to another, between the heat of the training and the relative closeness that was enforced by the enclosed space… and a couple of kisses happened.

And those were just the beginning of a sudden change of pace in our relationship.

While we were both growing accepting of the chances, with Hannah having ditched most of her 'obsession' she had over me for the sake of seeing me as a normal human being, it was soon a must to label our state of romance on a semi-official platform.

An engagement of sorts. One that I was forced to speak about with George to avoid getting to deal with some harsh repercussions once the news was left out in the open.

The man was confused at first, but not entirely surprised by this predicament much to my shock. While it was true that we didn't offer any hint that would suggest that prior to that conversation, it was also true that we were rather close as friends before that.

He offered his blessings on the single condition I didn't rush things up or allowed things to be rushed on me.

I appreciated the concern and the worry, and so we both engaged in… proper couple activities. Eating dinner at good restaurants, checking the theaters for good comedies, and finally some simple relaxation away from others.

Then the marriage between Jojo and Erina came by and the question threw a massive conundrum inside my head.

While I had replied to it with a good enough reply, I was also unsure myself about that kind of answer.

I could allow myself to purchase all kinds of rings I wanted, and yet I felt reluctant to actually take a moment to go and do so.

And even now, I wasn't sure why I was afraid of going through that simple task.

"You're frightened by the chance of putting her once more in harm's way."

I blinked, my eyes widening just a fraction as just now I remember that something was off about the scene.

When I first picked this bench, I had precisely selected it on the basis that it was well away from people. I needed time alone to think, to contemplate- and not to be interrupted.

Yet I suppose I should've expected this to happen. Especially since it seriously meddled with the big plan of the bastard behind my current predicament.

I merely turned to glance at the priest with a bored look.

"Pucci."

The man didn't regard me with words at first, merely staring at me with a hint of interest and curiosity.

…

"I would've expected a… stronger reaction."

I sighed. "If you had come to me three years ago, I would've probably given you a Jotaro's treatment."

"And now?"

…

"Now I believe you're not worthy of it," I calmly replied. "As much as I would like you death. For you to… no longer meddle with the laws of the universe, I know that killing you here and now wouldn't matter."

He hummed. "You're wiser than I thought you were. I suppose three years gave you plenty of time to think how you were to handle my visit."

"That, and actually ponder about your current plight," I muttered quietly. "While the book you gave me, the one that was supposed to hide your presence in this universe away from my mind, was fake, I know that there is a good reason that drove you to 'make me'."

Enrico looked away for a moment, glancing at a couple of seagulls that were flying around the ship.

"Plight?"

Of course he would try to aim at the least worrying topic.

"While at first one could easily ignore the drawbacks of your Stand because of its immense power, I know that **｢****Made in Heaven****｣ **has a terrible catch. A curse," I explained with a serious tone. "When Emporio 'killed' you. You lied. You lied to life and you lied to death."

His eyes glinted at a grim understanding.

"And you thought of this in just three years?"

"Not truly, no. Many had speculated about the 'drawbacks' of powerful Stands, especially when something stronger than yours like **｢****The World Over Heaven****｣** can be beaten," I continued with a sigh. "And I ended up realizing that the issue was the curse of invincibility and immortality when you shifted your focus on the way you 'handled' me."

…

"At first, I didn't realize it. At first, I thought that it was just a coincidence that for some reason things started to get more difficult," I resumed. "You were precise, careful with your first approach. If Jack had indeed attacked me instead of running away, I would've died. That was an assassination attempt, one that was foiled by pure luck… and then you stopped with that pattern."

"And you're so sure of this?"

"Quite so," I quickly answered. "You're a smart man, Enrico. It would be impolite of me to think of you being unable to make a proper plan to kill me without much of an issue. You were the one that killed the last Joestar group back when you first achieved **｢****Made in Heaven****｣**."

"Too flattering-"

"Only respectful as much as formality dictates," I snidely added. "And don't believe for a moment I truly pity you about this. You deserve this punishment for having believed a crook, entrusting your life to a belief that wasn't yours to believe."

"Lord Dio-"

"Was a cult leader," I dryly remarked. "He would draw some of his strength by manipulating people to believe him. He wasn't a good person, no matter how 'kind' he proved to be to others. It was all to give debts and demand servitude in return."

…

"Yet the Heavens exist."

"They do," I agreed, feeling myself rather attached to this possibility after evolving my Stand. I just could remember feeling 'something more' when I unlocked **｢****ACT 2****｣****. **Something that was divine and unreachable as I was right now. "But were they worth to be taken away by you, a mere believer?"

…

He remained quiet. And with good reasons too since I knew the truth of his mind.

Despite how many would hate him for being an utter bastard of a villain, he was still Dio's greatest victim. The one that succeeded with Dio's will, and got screwed in a permanent way.

"How does it feel to now know why God couldn't help us all? How does it feel to know that someone might have had this very role of yours for even longer, all because of mistakes?"

…

"Are you going to keep quiet when you yourself prayed to become this? Did you even try to see what those you killed think of you? Your sister, your brother-"

"You don't know what you're saying-"

"Really?" I interjected flatly, staring back at his furious glare. He was angry, but not because I was somehow poking fun at his interior- no, it was because I was bringing up the hurt he had tried for so long to hide. "Do you really believe that you can silence the truth, Pucci? Do you believe Gravity can alter an incorruptible idea?"

…

"Let me ask you this then," I decided to press. "Do you believe that Dio wanted friends?"

…

…

"Dio was… he..."

I sighed. "Do you want to know why I think you can't defend him anymore after so long?" I asked once more. "Do you want to know?"

…

"Yes."

A smile appeared on my face. "Because after so long, you know that this isn't what you or him wanted. This isn't how you both expected things to go and… yet I think he would still go for it, regardless of any warning you would give him."

"And you know this from merely reading comics about this universe?"

…

"No. I know this because every single day, I worry of becoming just like that," I answered earnestly. "Because as much as one could call Dio a grand individual, he was still unable to achieve anything all because he couldn't trust. And as much as one can understand his incapacity to believe in others other than himself, it's wrong to assume he could do all of this on his own. He needed help, but he couldn't accept it. He was the one that needed to win, him and him alone."

…

"And you think that by… keeping away, you will live through this without falling into his own mistakes?"

…

"Maybe," I admitted with some uncertainty. "Maybe I will be spared by his mistakes while also allowed to feel newer issues. Maybe I will fail too, maybe I will not arrive at the destination I've set myself to find- but I will fight to the bitter end to give my best to achieve it."

…

…

"I believe we're done here," The priest commented calmly, standing up from the bench. "I had my expectations for you and… you were different than I thought. Way more difficult to predict."

I frowned. "What about-"

"**｢****Made in Heaven****｣** sees multiple paths a person can take. But with you, the Stand starts to have some issues. And I believe it has to do with your own Stand."

My frown deepened, but before I had the chance to ask for more, I found myself alone. A blink, and Pucci was gone from my sight and range of action.

A scowl briefly pierced through my calm mask, but instead of getting too annoyed by this circumstance, I decided to go back by the central part of the ship to keep on waiting for Speedwagon.

Robert would arrive a couple of minutes later, apologizing profusely as he helped loading up his luggage inside the ship.

"I-I thought I was early and decided to visit the bar. I lost time and-"

"It's alright, you're here," I calmly interrupted. "I suppose you got everything in your luggage."

"Fake documents about our identities, some to reason our visit to the States, and some permits to stay in there for a couple of months," The fellow blond said while nodding. "Still, may I ask why we are going to Boston? I would've expected you to visit New York or Washington first."

"Both cities are fairly big, and both with their own problems," I quietly explained as we started to make our way to our cabins. "I believe we should start with somewhere less problematic, just for the sake of growing accustomed to the 'Land of the Yankees'."

"I've heard numerous things. Many scary individuals live there- shouldn't you have asked for Bhediya to come with us?"

I sighed. "I had thought of it, and I would've wanted someone else to be with us, but ever since George had him work to try and mellow things with the Indian sector of his trade group, he has been rather busy. Plus, I couldn't just ask him to leave Sarah behind for this trip."

…

Robert nodded, looking a little annoyed at how small the group was.

"Yet, I'm not worried," Speedwagon confessed without hesitation. "I know that you will be able to face all those possible enemies without much of an issue."

Oh, I hoped that myself. Or else I wouldn't have been worthy of achieving the Heavens.

With the ship preparing to set sail for the American Continent, I finally reached my cabin, quickly sitting down on my bed as I prepared for the long journey ahead.

And as I, Dio, yawned and prepared to enjoy a peaceful nap, my mind couldn't help but think about what kind of characters I was going to meet.

_**Who knows, maybe I was going to be surprised with some unexpected individuals. But for now… I, Dio, needed to enjoy my time away from the perfidious paperwork.**_

* * *

**AN**

**OVER HEAVEN! The First Arc (Giovinezza) is now complete!**

**Next stop is Capitolo Secondo (Ambizione)!**

**...But before that… a spooky Mid-quel!**

**Capitolo 1.5 (Lacci Crudeli)!**

**Summary: It's 1882 and Dio & co. are recovering from the ordeals happening just last year. While Made in Heaven makes the first steps in politics, a terrible news strikes London as a monster long thought death is now on the loose once again. But how could it be? How could Jack the Ripper be still alive? (It's required to have a 'minor' - read as ultra minor – understanding of Satellite City from FENNAH, horror web-series. And this is 'half-canon', so you may skip it if you want.)**

**And now! OMAKE TIME!**

* * *

**Omake 16: Meanwhile at the MiH HQ**

* * *

There was a rather tense atmosphere inside the headquarters.

While nothing concrete had the workers to feel this much worried, the fact that something was indeed off with today just made the whole day quite… difficult.

Without Speedwagon, the administration was left to his two trusted aides, which were more than properly helping around to replace their missing boss.

The rest of the supervisors looked incredibly uncomfortable, but they knew what was wrong now that their leader was away for a business trip.

And that something was the lack of an over-the-top reaction from a certain woman now that her fiance wasn't around to keep an eye on her.

Hannah had holed herself in Dio's office.

It was known how the woman was attached to the young man, and how she would normally react when he was away from London for some conference.

The lovely lady might be a delight to have around when their boss was close enough to watch over her behavior, but when he wasn't there…

Well.

Wailing, punching walls until large entrances are created through the intense bashing, and having someone in there so that she could explain her entire life in fine details so that she doesn't truly feel alone…

Those were once a normality to experience in the building whenever Dio was out of the capital for a reason or another.

But today he was known to have left for a longer trip? Many had panicked and cried themselves to sleep when they heard of the news.

If Hannah could react this horribly at a minor trip out of the city, everyone had the right to fear for what she would do now that he was going to be gone for much longer and even further than previous occasions.

…

And yet, despite all the alarm and fears, nothing seemed to happen as the work day started, prompting for many to worry for the worst as the woman was last spotted walking around Dio's office.

Many were curious, endeared by a sense of morbid interest over what kind of madness was unfolding inside that room, and how long it would take for said insanity to break into their workplace.

…

In the end, a 'brave' soul was picked among the supervisors, a young woman that went by the name of Lara Spencer, was sent to discover the truth. An arduous task that promised endless rewards and generosity from the rest of her peers, for good reasons this all felt little compared to the risks of this mission.

Yet she had to do this, all for the sake of resuming her blasted work and get back home with something to buy her lunch and dinner.

Grasping over the door's handle she had just touched once to ask to be hired in that growing organization, Lara delved into the monster's den with little to no preparation whatsoever to the 'absurdity' unfolding inside that room.

She held her breath as she was inside, her eyes quickly locking on the calm-looking form of the very 'creature' she was sent to check on, and felt almost stupid when she realized that the fellow girl was just… writing something down.

Maybe it was the beginning of some letter spree to their leader?

Lara walked closer, tense and ready to bolt away the moment Hannah noticed her presence. The young woman was just too focused on what she was scribbling on that paper to notice the careful recon mission ordained from her 'minions'.

Finally, the worker had her eyes aimed at the paper and… she frowned as she recognized a particularly simple romantic poem. Nothing strange or-

"Oh, hello," Hannah hummed happily. "Sorry, I didn't see you."

Lara tensed up, panic rushing to her mind as she knew she had to leave.

"I-It's alright-"

"Do you need something? Is there a reason you came here?"

…

"Y-Yes."

"Oh? How may I help you?"

_Oh crap, how should I answer that?_

…

…

…

"I-Is everything alright, Lady Hannah?"

Fuck! Why did I do that? I'm so dead now…

The young brunette blinked in surprise, almost taken by the unexpected question… but soon she was smiling cordially at that 'concerned query'.

"Everything is fine, dear. I suppose you were all concerned by the fact I'm not behaving weirdly now that Dio is away for the United States… right?"

Lara had to nod, still chiding herself for being this easy to get to talk under peer pressure.

"Y-Yes. It's just… odd that you're so calm."

Hannah hummed. "Right? I was surprised myself when I felt unable to get annoyed at his departure. Even though he would always explain to me why he is going out of London without me, I would usually lash out like a silly girl… apologies, by the way."

"W-Well accepted, Ma'am."

The brunette sighed. "Still, the reason why I'm so calm is… because I know Dio is going to bring back a ring for me."

…

A what now?

"A-A ring?"

"Yes," The girl replied with a nod. "He mentioned that he just lacked the right ring to give to me to ask for my hand. Such a gentleman- what a lovely man that conquered my heart~."

For some inexplicable reason, Lara was quite certain that Dio was out for business affairs than else. But maybe there was a chance he was also going to buy a precious ring too if he had the chance to do so.

So maybe it wasn't that strange to believe he would also do this… yet, Lara couldn't help but feel that her leader was sure going to incur to a kind of wrath he had never been bestowed by Hannah. She might be an angel, but as a woman the worker knew that she was just gearing up to either be satisfied or be furious at her fiance.

Yep, Lara thought with a grim outlook in life as she was allowed out of the office, things were going to be this tense despite any real possibility of issues from Hannah.

**But once Dio was back… then that was going to be another story altogether.**

* * *

**AN**

**I wonder if Dio-sama will find a ring for his bride. Hopefully he doesn't die by furious woman's stampede.**

**REVIEW Q&A!**

**Ascandas****: Could be an idea for a sequel once this big story is over. But there are going to be a couple 'minor' xovers that will not impact the Jojoness of this story too much. Expect some absurd and bizarre cameos in Arc 2.**


	22. Lacci Crudeli (1-3)

**DISCLAIMER**

**The following is a fan-based**

**FICTION**

**All Parts of the JJBA are all owned by Hirohiko Araki. **

****Satellite City is owned by Sam Fennah.****

**Please Support the Official Release!**

* * *

**Capitolo 1.5: Lacci Crudeli (1/3)**

* * *

**Quick reminder: Read the 'first' AN of the last chapter to understand what is going on. **

Winter 1882.

The wind was chilling despite the scene happening well away from the dark setting of London Proper, with the dim light of the few candles being left lit at the corners of the room keeping the entire place to be devoured by the shadows of darkness.

Just mere moments ago, I was trying to read a fine book. A book about romance and about the art of understanding emotions to a finer level. It wasn't generally my cup of tea since I would've preferred something about gardening, but since Dio was now away for an important business trip together with his adoptive father, I just thought it being the prime opportunity to learn some more about this curious feeling.

While I might have grown to accept the fact that I could access his heart only through slow but steady steps through our friendship, I decided to delude myself that perhaps something deeper and more meaningful could be found within the pages of that book.

Erina had gifted it to me as means to help me in my endeavor, and albeit perplexed at first when I read its title, I started to slowly creep at each word and sentence of that modest text. It wasn't too thin, but neither too thick in the number of pages. It was still a good read, but still far from quenching the need of proving once again that I was ready for the next step.

It was right as I turned its twentieth page that the news of something unusual unfolding in the innermost section of London's poorest districts arrived at the headquarters. Three deaths, a woman and two men.

Even though this wasn't truly surprising considering how cheeky some independent gangs would be against our organization in an effort to debunk our reputation, this time the report had mentioned something that was worth checking on a personal level.

Bhediya decided to accompany me, leaving Sarah to play with Speedwagon while her brother and I went to see what really happened in Whitechapel and why the police were buzzing around in such a hurry.

Sure, there were plenty of officers that were supportive of Made in Heaven, but to score any favor in gaining insight over a new case was something that took its time. It needed for the first day to come to an end before a full report could be asked, and right now the crime has been uncovered mere hours earlier.

A sliver of worry coated my mind, but it wasn't one born from certainty. It was born by the remembrance of something familiarly sinister as I listened to the names of those that had been found deceased.

The woman was a prostitute, one that I had heard about back when I was still dealing with that bleak moment of my life. It was only by reputation, and yet the fact that it was a prostitute having been killed together with two clients just sounded… fairly unnerving.

The pattern was also the same as _**his**_. Daggers or… something akin to short and sharp blades had been used to slaughter the trio. And while it was easy to try and dismiss this as a clear case of emulation, there was also a strong case that dismissed this effort of my mind to calm me down. Dio had fought a brutal campaign to try and make sure any violent criminals, murderers and rapists, were put behind solid bars until the end of their lives.

It took a full year and plenty of favors to get through with this attempt, but London had been breathing a cleaner air ever since the threat of these monsters had been dealt with through the blond's work. But now Dio wasn't there, and the burden of this strange case was now mine to handle.

_Maybe I should've contacted him when I still could._

This thought wasn't dignified by hopelessness, but by the sense of annoyance created by that frustrating crime scene.

Once we arrived at the location of the murder, Inspector Poole was more than happy to let us see the sight on a closer setting. The man had been one of the many that was indebted with Made in Heaven, having been one of the many students that had been given money to pursue their education through universities and join the higher section of the work-force. An excellent detective, the man was also having some trouble making sense of the jigsaw left behind by this unknown killer.

"Poole, it's been a while," I greeted with a kind tone, smiling as the young man returned this with a tired sigh.

"Miss Hannah, I would like to say it's good to see you, but I'm sure you know what happened here is… quite tragic," The officer commented with a nervous tone.

"I have, yes," I quietly replied, nodding as the detective led us to the crime scene proper. Buck's Row was now bustling with various police officers trying to block any citizens trying to see the corpses of the victims. Sheets were used to cover the sight of the butchering from the civilians, but soon those were pulled off to give us a good look at the disgusting massacre.

It was a feast of gore, one that had me grimace and sigh in irritation at the familiar style used against these poor souls. Crouching down, I gave a proper look on the horrible scene while Bhediya studied closely some piece of cloth coming from the jacket of one of the victims. He brought it close enough to his nostrils to catch the scent and… he gritted his teeth.

"I don't believe I can find the culprit," The young man lamented, bringing the cloth down to the ground.

Nodding at that comment, I decided to look some more for any interesting clues. This wasn't Jack's work for certain.

While the bastard would've tried to keep away from poking at Dio by resuming with his old antics regarding bodies, he wouldn't have done so since it was widely-known that the adopted Joestar was now dealing with a royal feast in Manchester and couldn't do much if he decided to come out and play. Still, my eyes found something rather confusing.

An element, perhaps a clue, that made me pause in my thoughts and breathing. At first I failed to notice the small strands of white fur protruding from the largest of the blood pools near the victims' bodies, but the moment I got a glimpse of those, I aimed my finger so that the inspector could've recovered those.

Poole blinked just once, trailing my finger to where it was pointing at, quickly crouching down himself to recover the unfamiliar fur-like strands.

"Could it be hair?" I mused out loud, turning to the perplexed detective.

"It's… too thin to be hair," He responded, his free hand reaching for a small handkerchief he had in his pockets. Soon the bloodied strands were enclosed in the cloth, meant to be studied by Scotland Yard once they received this kind of hint. "I would dare to say those are from an animal, but nothing in my mind strikes at the discovery of the white fur. A cat is too small to be responsible for this."

Indeed, a kitty wouldn't have been able to manage this much of a blunder. Not without human help at least. Could it be that the killer made use of animals? Maybe it was someone that had managed to avoid suspects until now because they appeared to be normal by owning a simple pet. A pet that was being used as a unique sign for the monster behind this heinous crime.

In the end there wasn't much else to notice beyond the fact many were already considering it the infamous return of Jack the Ripper. People were too easy to attach a familiar name to a horrible deed so similar to the ones caused by the renown murderer.

But that kind of chance was already ignored by every bit of my mind. Dio had been quite adamant on the fact that Jack had perished, and that anyone that would've gone and done this kind of murders was none other than a copycat. Someone that, albeit dangerous, was still a far cry from the vicious vampire that he had fought a year ago.

A long time had passed since his demise, and it wouldn't have been a surprise that someone somehow managed to get through the simple screening that was established to avoid any revival. The large acquisition of knives from any stores was considered a prime topic to be worried about, and that had prompted Made in Heaven to issue the innocent request to the shops to not sell too many knives to a single individual.

Without much to work on, the logical solution was to return back to the headquarters and contact Dio on the matter. As much as I wanted to offer a greater contribution to this odd development, there wasn't much to do with the little amount of clues available for us to study. We couldn't just do anything without any legitimate hint of what was going on.

Yet, as we proceeded to make our way to the main building, our attention was quickly taken away by a sharp shriek followed by masculine yells coming from one of the more abandoned sections of Whitechapel. Maybe it was a brawl, maybe it wasn't what I was hoping for it to be-

"I smell blood. Lots of it," Bhediya commented curtly, taking the lead as he bolted through the empty streets of the quarter, rushing towards where the scene of the newest possible crime was unfolding. The wind suddenly got chillier, and I felt a shiver go down my spine as I got a glimpse of quite the absurd sight unraveling before our eyes.

A woman, she was being kept lifted up with her legs kicking around to be freed from that strong choke hold. She wanted to scream, tears flowing without restraints as she knew that the monster behind that attack was going to take her life. In a mere second, a crack echoed all around the street, the girl's windpipe was snapped with ease by the tall being now standing over her remains.

Silence reigned as a king for the following quiet moments, with the creature slowly turning to reveal more of its crooked appearance. Its face looked like a porcelain doll, with numerous cracks all over its blank body and face. It twitched, seemingly interested by our arrival… but looking forward to something a little more murderous compared to a warm greeting.

Soon it was convulsing, preparing to attack us as Bhediya and I braced for the unavoidable fight. This was the thing behind the attacks and… what was that?!

My mind couldn't come up with a proper answer to that simple question. It looked like something unnatural. A demon, or maybe something akin to one of those homunculi mentioned when I asked Dio about alchemy. Its skin resembled like porcelain, yet I could tell that the texture was smoother… and tougher.

Dashing for the flanks, we both dodged the first assault of the creature. It was tremendously fast, but still easy to handle considering how quick the werewolf was and how much swift my body was ever since what happened last year. Multiple Steel balls were already in my palms, allowing me to counter that first move with a volley of Spinning spheres.

While those were not coated with the Golden Spin energy, with my efforts still limited by my capacity to produce it through a single ball despite a full year of training onto it, the damage was less than I would've wanted..Especially when the massive explosions caused by the volley only ended up leaving the 'porcelain' charred and some little cracks over the damaged tissue.

This wasn't going to be an easy fight for the two of them… but Bhediya was already moving in to land another hint on the surprised monster. His right leg blurred in a golden light as he struck the being with a powerful Hamon-imbued kick. The result was the fiend being pushed forward some more, but minimal cracks appearing on its back.

It snapped around, roaring the most terrifying noise we could've heard. It was loud, distorted, and inhuman by all accounts. While it had sustained a considerable amount of power onto itself, the creature seemed to shrug off any hints of pain that could've been coursing in its body. Either because it couldn't feel pain, or because it was too enraged by us to stop with its assault.

Once again it rushed to attack, this time aiming at me as I was left alone to handle its swift blitz. Much to my relief, I soon found out that its clawing around was unfocused and driven by pain and rage, giving me the chance to predict and dodge all its attacks.

With this close up offering me the chance to try something stronger, I decided to try and see how it liked to be stunned by a cold touch. Preparing the attack on both my palms, feeling my sensibility dropping because of the usually unpleasant effects of the technique. Once I was ready to strike, I allowed for the monster to be open for me to attack and… I slammed both my hands onto its chest.

At first nothing happened, but soon the fiend stopped in surprise, with its stare turning down to see that a layer of ice was expanding from where my palms were pressing onto. It was also in that moment that I noticed some curves within its torso. Could it be that I was fighting a female? It had a rather slim figure, and the curves could only tell me this much.

Backing away to deal the killing blow, I felt tears forming all around my eyes, with the liquid channeling and preparing to be ejected. Dio had told me that vampires had this ability that was deadly useful. The capacity of focusing bodily fluids within their eyes and… shooting a powerful dual beam out of those to kill their enemies. I had tried to use it before, with it resulting in my eyes being almost destroyed in the process. Luckily enough, Hamon and my natural regeneration prevented a permanent state of blindness… but it made me wary of using this ability to its full power.

Instead I resolved in using a weaker version of it. I closed my eyelids just a moment, remembering what I had to do once I was ready to strike at this mysterious opponent. The moment my eyes were burning, I opened up to look at her and _blasted her without any mercy!_

The light-violet attack zeroed the distance to its target, slamming into the monster's iced chest and… piercing through it. The fiend stopped, tensing up in shock as a large amount of dark green liquid started to pour out of the wounds. It trembled, surprise embedded in its form before Bhediya rushed from behind and slammed another kick on the back of its head, sending the monster to crash down on the ground and leaving an indentation of its frame onto the floor.

There was silence, with both the werewolf and I staring at the seemingly defeated monster. The creature was convulsing just a little, but all in all wasn't making any effort to either get up or try to get closer to us to attack again. It was there, seemingly trying to recover from its injuries… and actually coming closer to do that.

My eyes widened as I saw the two holes I had left on her chest slowly closing, with a few of the cracks that we had left on its skin slowly mending and closing up like her wounds did. Was she regenerating? How was it possible to beat someone that was handling a blow that was meant to instantly kill? While it was true that we had faced monsters far worse, Bhediya had confirmed with the usage of the Ripple that the monster wasn't undead or driven by anything Hamon could've killed.

Backing away and considering a retreat to plan a better way to destroy this dangerous threat, my attention was taken away as I was a dark blur descending from the rooftops of the nearby building and onto the downed monster.

A sharp blade replacing the intruder's right arm as he pierced onto the murderous creature. It roared in pain, trying to get off from that hold, but was unable to shrug off the attacker. It trashed around to no avail, with the being failing miserably to get her attacker off from her back.

Soon, the struggling simmered down to simple convulsions, prompting for the masculine creature to step off the submitted fiend and lift it up from the floor with his blade-arm still stuck onto the monster's chest.

He was tall, taller, than the monster we had just fought and… his attention was now onto me. Golden eyes shone from its dark scleras, and I felt like this was an important being… and an intelligent one at that.

"Apologies for having acted on this… problem, a little too late," The being spoke, his voice booming and particularly genuine about the apology. "And… Lucy, please get off from Miss Hannah's shoulder."

A frown replaced my surprised expression, and I indeed felt a small weight onto my right shoulder. As I turned to greet this 'Lucy' and try to get a clearer understanding of this situation… I was blessed with an even greater fright as I was given a full-toothed smile from the small but scary-looking critter now perched on my shoulder.

White fur with several bloody red spots, a hat made of flesh, and a set of numerous sharp-looking teeth making up for quite the horrifying smile to look at.

"Hello, love~!"

I didn't jump at the sudden surprise, but the critter that resembled a nightmarish cat did offer me a good reason to punch her off my back. I didn't know that something big was soon to happen and… the taller being was somehow tied to this.

"W-Who are you?"

He gave me a grim look and… he sighed. "My name is… Ludwig. And we need to talk, Miss Hannah and Mr. Bhediya."

_**And what a curious discussion was going to ensue. One about creatures from another time, and age- monsters from a society based on brutality and viciousness. A world where someone like Lucy Lacemaker was considered the prime example of a model citizen.**_

* * *

**AN**

**Part 1 of 3- boy, this sure looks like a lot to take. I hope you all paid attention to my numerous warnings in the last few chapters because you're about to get blasted in the next chapter… which I'm currently writing right now and will probably release later today. Yes, I'm trying to rush this mini-story… but I hope you can enjoy it despite it being that short.**

**Truly a hellish story to make Halloween time a little… funnier.**


	23. Lacci Crudeli (2-3)

**DISCLAIMER**

**The following is a fan-based**

**FICTION**

**All Parts of the JJBA are all owned by Hirohiko Araki. **

******Satellite City is owned by Sam Fennah.******

**Please Support the Official Release!**

* * *

**Capitolo 1.5: Lacci Crudeli (2/3)**

* * *

"May I entice you for another cup of tea, dear?"

I blinked calmly as I saw the warm teapot being held in front of me. The one holding it was the bizarre being that was called Fontaine. Wearing an ochre-colored trench coat with three sharp frills sprouting from the top collar, the lanky being was also donning a matching hat with a tiny chamomile on the side and a lopsided brim that covered his eyes well enough.

He looked particularly peaceful considering his diplomatic approach in this unusual situation. Not only strange for both Bhediya and I, but also for the creatures that had decided to host us for the time being.

Kivouachians. Beings that had been existing from the very beginning of the world. The predecessors of humanity, and the entities that had been long praised as deities by ancient civilizations. The list of titles could go on with the kind of monsters I was forced to deal with my friend, but I decided against stroking the ego of those mysterious… aliens.

Bhediya was having a tougher time keeping his nervousness in check, mostly because his senses and instincts were screaming at him that we weren't dealing with the usual brand of unnatural creatures. No, we were facing something that was by far the worst kind of 'spectators' we could've imagined to be facing while Dio was away for that business trip.

_Especially now that Dio was away for that business trip._

Once again, I really wanted to bash my skull at having decided against writing a message to the owner of Made in Heaven. My little pride having landed us in quite the precarious situation, one that I was unsure we could get out of if we didn't manage to keep things stable at this unplanned meeting.

"A cup would be nice. Three sugar cubes," I curtly replied, never having my eyes leave both Ludwig, the leader of this cast of dangerous beings, and Lucy, the most terrifying of the bunch. The critter looked as devious as she really was inside. A bundle of chaos that was coated in a layer of murderous senses and a thirst for inflicting torture on her preys.

Once the cup of tea was given to me, I took a moment to sip at it and… enjoy the pleasant fragrance and the proper sweetness of the relaxing beverage. A nod was given to show my positive reaction to the good blend that I was offered. Fontaine's smile widened just a tiny bit, careful to not appear too forced with his 'response' or too lackluster by not reacting at all.

"I suppose you're asking yourself why you've been spared by any attacks after… making your acquaintance with our little burden," Ludwig muttered with a curious tone. "Please, be free to inquire and I shall answer the best I can."

"That little burden… what is it? And why was it set free?" I decided to ask first and foremost. The way that monstrous entity had managed to slay five people in a single night so easily was enough to warrant some interest in understanding what was the truth about it.

"What you encountered was something of a… relic from our first rule. Something that wasn't meant to be released in the open like that," The 'Grand Voice' answered quietly. "Something that is now locked away and-"

"Will never wander around making trouble for us all," Lucy interjected. "I bet ya were afraid of keeping on that fight. I could see that scaredy look you had when you saw her recovering."

The intense stare that ensued was enough to actually get me tense and ready to brace myself for an attack. The fact the small critter looked ready to jump at the opportunity to attack so suddenly was enough to get me to worry about our survival.

Before something could've happened, Ludwig moved to grasp at the smaller being's neck and pull her away from her tense posture. Lucy gnawed, trying to bite off one of Ludwig's fingers, but failing to accomplish much in that effort beyond leaving some scratches on his hand.

"Forgive Lucy, she is rather… bored of being limited after what just happened," Fontaine spoke up, but I turned my attention back to Ludwig instead of focusing on the 'older' Kivouachian.

"You responded to one of the questions," Bhediya reminded tensely. "I suppose... you're unhappy to part way with the answer to the second one."

The tall being blinked, keeping quiet for a moment as he pondered on the matter.

"We ourselves are… unaware of who was behind the burden's release into London," Ludwig admitted, looking at Fontaine as if to ask some guidance on the matter.

"An investigation is currently unfolding on this situation," The Spidery fellow added with a nod. "We will make sure whoever was responsible for this tragedy will be put under trial for high treason against the Kivouack."

A frown adorned my face as I thought about this situation. Something was indeed off with their 'subdued' responses, and I knew that it had nothing to do with us both. So what was driving them to be this appeasing to us, and why do I feel like the reason behind this was way more unpleasant than I wanted?

"May I ask you a rather simple question? It's one that I think might enrage you considering how blunt and unpleasant it might sound."

…

Ludwig nodded slowly. "You may, Miss Hannah."

_Let's hope this doesn't land us in an uglier spot than the one we currently have…_

"Why are you afraid of harming us?"

…

"Beg your pardon?" The Grand Voice asked with a surprised tone.

"You might be trying to play clueless on the matter, but I can tell that you're being overly generous with this situation. For someone that is blessed with an important role, you're sounding particularly..."

"Appeasing," Bhediya commented with a fascinated tone.

Fontaine snorted. "You two sure are an incredible duo. Now I can see why that boy decided to give you this much trust."

Boy?

The term at first left me perplexed since I knew of no boy… and then I realized that within the context, the old Kivouachian was referring about-

"Dio. You're… doing this for-"

"A lucky brat that ended up becoming a little too troublesome to kill," Lucy interrupted with a swift comment. "I can understand why you two need to bootlick around to the kid, but I don't see how helpful it is to be this submissive in front of these humans."

"And why are they doing this, Lucy?"

Her grin widened, and I felt a sudden chill go down my spine. There was no reason to refuse the fact that I was terrified by the frightening being sitting by Ludwig's lap. By asking her something like that, I felt like I had opened a box full of death and despair… and I wasn't sure if I should've been glad to have done that sacrifice or not.

"Well, your organization is big and important. Enough that making any of you disappear would warrant some nosing around that would make our efforts to remain unknown to you simians particularly difficult," The murderous critter explained. "And… Ludwig is curious about you, little missy-"

"Enough, Lacemaker. You're making quick waste of my patience with your unwarranted responses-"

"I believe those responses are more than warranted, Grand Voice Ludwig," I interjected fiercely, feeling rather concerned by both reasons driving this forcefully diplomatic situation. While it was far from the worst scenarios, the situation at hand was far from idyllic.

They were interested in my abilities, perhaps growing interested with what they could do with me if they used me as a bargain chip to gain something from Dio. That mere idea… was enough to get my blood boiling and for my vampirism to intensify for a moment. Violet flashed red for a brief moment as I stared sternly at the interested Kivouachians, with Bhediya too tensing up as if expecting for a fight to break up from that very situation.

Everything was set to begin a glorious brawl, with Lucy giggling eagerly at the chaotic turn this whole farce of a meeting had turned into. But before anything happened, a knock by the door interrupted just a little bit the tense atmosphere.

Ludwig looked confused, staring at the only door of his office and pondering if he should've let him who was knocking or not. And in that moment, I felt once more concerned, this time about who was about to enter inside. It had to be another Kivouachian, but there was no means to know if their entrance would spell the beginning of that fight, or the end of any possible conflict.

"You may enter," The Grand Voice ultimately decided, allowing for the Kivouachian on the other side to finally get inside that room.

Wearing a red coat that barely covered his bulky figure, the being that entered inside had dark-red fur and the head akin to a fox. His teeth were a mix of white, light-blue, and yellow, while numerous thin tails were fluttering peacefully from his lower back.

"Yeshua," Fontaine greeted tensely. "As you can see… you might have not come in the best of situations."

The Fox-like creature snorted. "As far as I can tell, this might be the best I could've imagined. Lucy has yet to murder anyone."

"Mere moments, Yeshua. You are early by a few seconds from that to happen," The murderous critter assured, only to get a bored look from the new entry.

"Does that mean you lost your touch, Lacemaker? Still, I want to know why the hell are you four getting so fussy about," He asked, turning to stare right at me. "Like, what are you doing, Lady? We're really trying to keep things from going to crap right now."

"Yet you're willing to appease to lower our guard," I replied with a furious tone.

"All forms of appeasement leads to that," He lamented. "But I can assure you that we don't want to make a mess out of this. We just want to strike a deal with your boss, something that prevents each other from jumping at our throats."

"How do we trust you with that?" Bhediya asked, his eyes narrowing at the new arrival.

This situation sure wasn't turning any better, despite the blunt effort of the fox-like Kivouachian.

Yeshua sighed. "Because by normal circumstances I should be the one heading an assassination attempt to make sure our existence is kept a secret, and I really don't want to mess my hands on killing a kid that got too many eyes aimed at himself."

"So you… want an agreement to-" I tried to speak up.

"To not get to deal with that whole ordeal," Ludwig finally spoke again. "We don't need to face the trouble of having the entire Kingdom trying to find out what happened to its Golden Boy. That child he-"

"He is not a child," I pressed with some irritation. "I don't believe treating as such will work well with what you're trying to accomplish. In fact, I believe the only thing you're accomplishing to keep doing so is annoying me."

"Oh? And why would we mind if you get 'annoyed, little girl?" Lucy asked with a curious tone. "Are you going to whine? Maybe even try to put up a fight and-"

"You talk a lot for being a pathetic cat," I remarked, my blood boiling again and my instincts flared once more as my thoughts were clouded in a thin shroud of red. "I suppose it has to come handy when you're trying to get people vexed, but less so when the only thing you're accomplishing is making a fool out of yourself."

Foresight was easy to achieve after months of dealing with people of various kinds. Despite Lucy not being human, her mind had a framework that I could understand properly… and play with to my ultimate entertainment.

A growl, one that felt more like a mix of hissing and snarling, started to rumble through the small Kivouachian's throat, now actively pushing herself out of Ludwig's hold as she stared up right at me. I merely smiled, my red eyes glowing brightly as I waited for her to make that mistake.

The smile was enough to get her to strike, bolting across the room in an effort to hit me and put an end to me. How silly of a thought, I contemplated while swiftly swinging my open palm at her. Lucy flew towards me… and landed behind in two pieces. Her head rolled for a bit, with a surprised look now hanging on her face at that unexpected counter.

I too was uncertain of what limits my reaction time had while I was actively making use of this body's power. I could use some of the vampiric boost offered by the Stone Mask, but that ' vampire mode' was inaccessible while I was exposed to the sunlight.

It was true that I was human, that I could eat normal food and not be afraid of being hurt by the common weaknesses known about vampires. Heck, I also loved to visit the church nearby the headquarters when I was free from my work. The only unpleasant element of that delightful place of God being the creepiness I would feel while listening to the fiery sermons delivered by the passionate priest, a man from Italy that sought for the people to accept his view of a kind and merciful Lord and Father to all.

A blink, then two. Finally I realized what had just happened, with my little daydreaming coming to an end as I realized that there was something of a familiar green liquid trailing down my fingernails. It was at that moment that I realized what had just happened, and I felt panic swell within my heart as I expected for the rest of the Kivouachians to react badly at the death of one of their kind.

Yet none was reacting harshly to it, rather they appeared surprised by the fact I had managed to accomplish such a feat in little time. As I turned if decapitation had indeed put an end to Lucy's life, I felt surprised at the fact I couldn't see anything left of the small critter, quite sure that her divided body should've been there. Instead there was nothing staining the carpet and…

Now I could feel something sitting on my lap. As my stare turned and I braced for a sudden attack, I turned to see Lucy now sitting peacefully on there and looking at me with a curious look. Her mismatched eyes were still looking in two opposite directions once in a while, but her grin was gone. In its stead, a waiting look now plastered on her face as she expected something to happen now.

_Is she… trying to…?_

I blinked again, this time feeling rather adventurous with this move as I lifted my right hand. The palm quickly became a new fixation for Lucy's attention, her stare still lacking any sort of malicious intent as I slowly approached her face and… her chin. A little scratching session ensued, with her eyes slowly closing as she allowed herself to be petted like that.

"Is this… normal?" I questioned, feeling more crept out than amused by that development.

"By human standards? No," Ludwig calmly replied. "But I believe you might be forced to have her around a while from now on."

…

"What?"

"You 'won' by Lucy's own mentality. And that means she is going to stake a claim on… a role humans no longer consider acceptable."

… "What?" I asked again, stressing how much confused I was with this whole escalation. What were they talking about? Why was Lucy behaving in such manner and-

"I believe they are trying to say that… the thing is trying to become your mate," Bhediya commented uneasily, trying to digest the complicated situation we were both facing right now.

…

"No," I flatly refused, leading the small critter to lean away from my touch with a slightly betrayed response to the sudden negative response. "My heart already belongs to someone that I consider to be my most precious friend. And that, I will never resign for no reason in this world."

...What if I try to make something interesting out of this awkward situation? Dio had long mentioned that sometimes he had to come to compromises to get the best out of a situation, and maybe there was something that I could do to not only avoid any conflicts but also cement strong relations with this mysterious group.

"But I believe we can come to a compromise," I decided to say, already thinking of something that could actually work well with the current situation.

Lucy perked at the curious proposal, listening up as I slowly explained to her what could be done out of this situation for everyone to win. While Ludwig looked uneasy at what I had in mind, the rest seemed to be somewhat accepting of my idea.

And the murderous critter now looked as giddy as she was mere moments before being decapitated, knowing full well what kind of benefits and opportunities that offer gave to her.

_**Hopefully Dio was going to like the little new liaison to the company. And hopefully nothing wrong would happen out of that risky gamble...**_

* * *

**AN**

**Hannah plays with fire, the world is in peril as now Lucy is going to meet a poor Dio unaware of what happened in that reunion.**

_**From horror we shall shift to the pure form of amusement. Next time… a comedy unfolds!**_

**Also, tomorrow will see the beginning of ARC 2. Surprise~!**


	24. Lacci Crudeli (3-3)

**DISCLAIMER**

**The following is a fan-based**

**FICTION**

**All Parts of the JJBA are all owned by Hirohiko Araki. **

**Please Support the Official Release!**

* * *

**Capitolo 1.5: Lacci Crudeli (3/3)**

**Little notice: Mistakes made in previous two chapters of Mini-story have been fixed. The 'Third Person' issue has been corrected!**

* * *

While I had expected for something incredibly insane and terribly messy to be waiting for me right as I returned back to London, I really was caught mostly unprepared for what I was 'blessed' with when I finally arrived at the headquarters. The little convention held at Birmingham had opened plenty of doors for me to explore as I quietly started to waddle the massive lake that was the British Empire's politics.

With many members of the Liberal Party and several 'wayward' Conservatives present in that reunion of important traders, I was quick to make a few new friendships along the way. Starting from the Churchill family, with little Winston still eight and completely distracted by the troublesome experience of his first school years.

I would've been happier to meet him at a later date, but I was still glad to have been capable of getting this much of an important first step in an amicable relationship with the future 'British Bulldog'. Instead I found my uttermost attention stolen away by a tense conversation with Henry Asquith.

The one that was possibly going to become a possible candidate to lead the Liberal Party in two decades from now had yet to make a serious commitment to politics, still a law practitioner that had just recently started to make a name for himself in some important criminal cases.

He seemed rather staunch in his current positions, but he mellowed a little bit as I coaxed him to relax and allow me to logically disprove his economic thought. Being a supporter of the traditional Free Market, in contrast to the imperialistic perception that was dominating the Liberals' majority, he seemed rather intrigued by the chances of 'integrating' some advancements within his state of education.

George would be around me during the whole event to make sure that, as I mingled with the other guests in an effort to secure more support and 'loyalists', I didn't make acquaintances with some unpleasant fellows that were invited despite some suspicious behavior regarding corruption and other unsavory things.

It was slightly frustrating, but not enough to get a proper and visible reaction out of me as I had a full year to grow accustomed to the attention. Plus, the fact that Jojo was there too at the behest of his own father trying to not make things awkward for himself with his simple understanding of the family business, meant less staring from the old Joestar and more chances of me exploiting the event as much as possible.

Eventually the entire thing came to an end, and while I had made some early plans to linger some more in the city, the letter I received from Hannah warranted no little concern from my part as I quickly cut my visit short.

After making sure I wouldn't end up causing any problems to my 'father' by leaving so abruptly, I decided to take the first train back to London and return back home, my mind providing some irking thoughts over what might be happening back in the heart of the Empire.

Hannah's letter was… confusing. While she seemed to be serious with the tone used in the missive, I could easily recognize a degree of 'awkwardness' and 'mirthfulness'. As if she was consciously keeping from me something deadly important and… perhaps something I had to legitimately worry about as I made my way back to London.

Instead of staying for a couple of hours at the manor, I just arrived there to drop my luggage, quickly taking a carriage to the city and see what was going on and… why people were now starting to worry about a possible return of Jack the Ripper. I knew he was dead, but people that glorified murderers were hardly deterred by the minor effort I had spared to limit the sale of large numbers of knives.

Maybe it was paranoia speaking, but for a time even Jonathan thought Dio had perished back in the original Phantom Blood. Yet, surprisingly enough, Dio survived as a head. Could it have been possible for the serial killer to have accomplished something like that? Could it be that he was behind the slaying and that Hannah had somehow managed to capture him?

Knowing the young woman, it wasn't that impossible for her to bolt at the chances of making an example out of Jack. I could still remember how perplexed she was when I first announced the murderer's passing and how it had happened. Maybe she would've wanted more, and I knew that the girl was easily one of the most vicious beings in the world when it came to take revenge on someone or something.

I could only dread the chances of this wanna-be ripper ending up taken by the half-vampire and brought back to the headquarters. To be tortured in the slowest and most cruel manner possible by the angry young woman… and then I would have to come in and take several hours to clean the whole room.

_Nothing worthwhile was lost, except for time that could've been better spent working and being productive._

When I arrived at the headquarters, I noticed no clues that could've helped me either to change my mind or confirm that my worries were indeed correct. In fact, the large group of workers from the various divisions created within the building were greeting me with absolute glee and relief, the kind of combo that would be dispensed when the boss was back and things were going to be a little less uneasy.

Quite normal considering how destructive Hannah tended to be while I was away for business or for nobles' gatherings.

"Robert," I called out as I finally came in sight to see the older blond giving me a nod before approaching me. "I hope things have been fine there."

"Mostly so, sir. The Ripper scare is spreading a little among the people that live near Whitechapel. It's only natural for many to worry about a surge of crime now, but I believe Hannah managed to catch the real perpetrator and stop them from killing once again," Speedwagon explained. "In fact, I believe she is currently in your office trying to finish the paperwork about it."

I hummed, looking around as the whole workforce was finally returning to their posts, allowing me to enjoy some private discussion with the trustworthy aide.

"I suppose she has disposed of the body," I commented, surprisingly enough drawing a frown from Robert.

"Body? Oh no, she said that the killer was _removed_ on the spot. She also mentioned that it wasn't a copycat."

...Truly? Then how is it possible that followed part of Jack's pattern in killing their victims?

I held back from asking, now noticing a note of perplexity hanging on Speedwagon's face.

"There is something else you wish to bring up, Robert? I can tell you're concerned about something."

…

He sighed. "Bhediya said something about crazy fellows, but he didn't say much before going back to play with Sarah," The blond replied. "And I believe Hannah returned… with a pet. I believe it is a cat or something of that kind. White fur, some bloody patched on there but-"

"I believe I will go and check now," I interrupted, feeling a sense of worry once more boiling from within my chest as I considered this curious 'animal' to be reason to be worried about. Weren't vampires capable of creating monstrosities between humans and pets? At least, that's what I could remember the original Dio being able to do due to 'boredom'.

Ignoring the confused look on Robert's face, I picked up my pace as I walked up to the door that led inside my office. I gave a simple knock before pulling down the handle and entering inside. Hannah's violet eyes quickly staring up from the paper as she regarded me with a surprised look.

"Oh, Dio. I wasn't expecting you to be back so early," She greeted mirthfully. Her voice appeared to show no hints of manipulation, and there was no strain on her face that would confirm any forced reaction to this situation. Plus, this was pretty much the usual reaction she would have when I would return from trips so far from home.

"Good morning, Hannah," I greeted quietly, my eyes lingering on her face as my mind tried to get hold of the uneasy sensation I was now feeling now that I was inside my office. Something was definitely here, and I could tell that it wasn't a simple cat or another pet of that sort. Something malicious, something filled with twisted desires. "I decided to return earlier. I've heard your message about this troublemaker that was killing in a similar way as Jack."

"Already dealt with it," The girl assured. "Still, I'm glad to see you back. I hope things went well for you at the convention."

...Why was she looking so at ease? If Hannah wasn't going through any form of mind control, she should've reacted quite visibly to the frustrating presence that was within this room. While the perception's range of my Stand was just enough to get hold of this third occupant, the brunette should've perceived that something was indeed wrong right now despite her limited vampirism.

"We gained a couple of friendly supporters," I commented, moving to the wooden coat hanger to leave my blue coat onto it and taking this opportunity to give a full look around the room.

I couldn't see anything suspicious, or anything that should've warranted a guarded stance around. The fact the woman's smile widened as she noticed that I was indeed giving a proper analysis to the situation was enough to confirm that she knew that something was wrong… and it wasn't anything to worry about in her opinion. Yet the wave of danger that I couldn't pinpoint was more than enough to keep being concerned about what was going on.

Turning again to stare at the young woman behind my desk, I decided to be more direct on the predicament.

"Hannah, what… who is in here with us?" I asked with a serious tone. "I can sense that someone is in here and you seem to know that too."

Her violet eyes gained awareness, with her lips twitching in clear amusement at my words. But I wasn't finding this hilarious, especially since I could tell that who was in there was nobody that could be trusted. No humans should've been able to produce so much blood-lust without a good enough reason to do so.

"I suppose you're correct. We're not alone," The girl admitted, my blood going cold as I saw her turn to stare right to my right shoulder. Something- no, _someone was sitting on it. _I turned to glance at the being behind this, and my fear vanished in a single glance despite the horrible creature that was now perching on there.

_Lucy Lacemaker _didn't greet me at first, her mismatched eyes trying to gain a jump out of me, but narrowing in surprise as I merely stared in calm shock at that development. Tilting her head to the side, I finally blinked while I made a quick recovery from that unexpected scenario.

And while I was keeping quiet, I knew it was a possibly bad scenario. Not for us but…

"Hannah, I see that… you got yourself a peculiar friend."

The half-vampire giggled and nodded. "Yes. Lucy, I think you already know Dio, and Dio, this is-"

"Lucy Lacemaker," I interrupted quietly, this time the critter holding back the renewed surprise as I continued to talk. "I wasn't expecting to make your acquaintance, Kivouachian."

"Oh, there are many things people don't expect while I'm around," The creature lamented. "Like corpses. Or salted tea."

I could only nod at that response, deciding to not stay put and approach the desk as to sit down in the chair in front of Hannah. While I was doing that, my mind quickly brought up all the information I knew about the kind of issue we had at our hands.

Kivouachians were 'primordial beings'. Creatures that had been prospering ages prior to the Big Bang, all living under the brutal society that existed within their 'world', the Kivouack. It was almost ironic how these beings were 'similar' to the Pillar Men in terms of physical advantages.

Both races centered their supremacy over others thanks to their full control of their bodies. With the Kivouachians being blessed by the lack of a natural weakness, leaving just heavy firepower or anything that could disrupt their regeneration as means to exterminate those vicious creatures.

What really worried me about the discovery of this series to be part of this universe was… the chances of an enormous problem coming back to threaten my chances of bringing eternal peace in this world. One thing that was kept a secret known only to the oldest Kivouachians was the reason that led to the Big Bang.

A creature that had no face and no desire. A 'curious monster', one that wanted to learn and devour whatever it saw fit to kill, assimilate or 'shatter'. Mandus was the name of the catastrophe that ended the Kivouack, and that ultimately led to the creation of our planet. Not much was known of this entity, only that by all means this could easily be considered an eldritch beast of absolute power and dominance.

_Hopefully it is dead. It has to be dead…_

"I suppose the Mannequin was set free," I commented quietly, allowing for all that madness to sink in my brain as I engaged in that complicated mess of a conversation. "Are the culprits-"

"Dead. They tried to bail but were caught just in time," Lucy mirthfully commented, humming as she stared at her paws. "How do you know this much about us?"

"The Joestar library is an immeasurable source of knowledge," I calmly lied. "There are a couple of obscure books that have some interesting descriptions of Gods of old. Creatures that would capriciously lead people to success or to their horrible demise."

"I don't believe books can-"

"And I've had the chance to see some of the investments taken by a certain Fontaine," I added another lie. "I might not have full control of London, but I know when something unusual is happening inside the city."

"Bollocks," She remarked foully. "There is no way you managed to track him. All proxies were unaware of the truth."

I shrugged. "Then I believe miracles happened, dear Loki."

Grin twitching at that old name of hers, Lucy shook her head in vibrant amusement.

"So you really know about us. I'm actually surprised. I really am."

"And I guess Ludwig will be even more surprised when we will have a meeting," I muttered with a nod. "I know he will want to have a proper agreement now that I'm back."

"Wait, you… Dio, you already knew about the-"

"Kivouachians?" I interrupted with a quiet voice. "I had for a while now. Never saw it fit to discuss it since I didn't have any reason to approach them. Well, until now."

"Yes, I can see that being quite the fright," The usually murderous critter pointed out. "Still, he will probably receive you as soon as possible. What with the fact that I'm now working as a 'diplomat' for you-"

"Diplomat?" I questioned suddenly, confused by this new information that actually explained why Lucy was here… and also not. Lucy was, by all means, not fit for that kind of rule. Not because of a lack of capacity to fit well, in fact I was well aware of her past as a 'stern judge' that pressed on the keeping of many of the old Kivouack's rules.

"Since Lucy became a friend of mine after I proved my worth to her, I decided to propose to have her be a liaison of sorts for the Kivouachians. An attempt to build a bridge between us and avoid any incidents in the future," Hannah explained with a small smile. "I decided that it would make for a good start to make progress at this 'mutual discovery'."

I nodded, turning to Lucy and then back to Hannah. "And she didn't ask for anything else in return?"

"I'm willing to be a torturer when it's needed," The critter pointed out mirthfully. "But… Do you have an alternative? I can tell you're thinking of something you can offer me."

Smiling at her, I offered her a nod. "Hannah, can you please prepare a glass of water?"

The woman gave me a confused look at the simple request. Still, she went through with it, and offered the glass for me to place right on the desk for Lucy to look at. Holding a Steel Ball in my left palm, I allowed for the difficult Golden Spin to happen, with the energy created by the powerful ability soon shifting the content of the glass into something that the critter recognized the moment the transmutation was over.

"Is that… Alcohol?"

"One thing that I know that makes you stand out from the others, Lacemaker, is that you have found a way to sleep, something Kivouachians shouldn't be able to achieve," I elaborated confidently. "What I just did is something that Hannah too can do, and that is turn water into beverages we have experienced."

Still skeptical, the critter jumped off my shoulder and sat on the desk, lifting up the glass and giving it a quick sip. Her eyes widened in awe and… soon she was downing the entire brew in a single take. Pulling the glass away, her grin expanded in pure giddiness at this discovery.

"You can do this… with all amounts of water."

"That is correct."

My smile widened as she started to giggle, this one lacking any past amount of maliciousness that the Kivouachian was known to show around quite eagerly so. Despite my early worries of Hannah having brought in something incredibly terrible that would've killed us all…

_**She ended up bringing us someone terrible that would've killed everyone but us if we asked her to.**_

* * *

**AN**

**A closure to this mini-story, now we can discuss what will be released later today. The first chapter of ARC 2.**

**What can I say without spoilering things up? The Mafia and a character that is half-OC/half-canon.**

**See ya all in a couple of hours from now~!**


	25. Ambizione (1)

**DISCLAIMER**

**The following is a fan-based**

**FICTION**

**All Parts of the JJBA are all owned by Hirohiko Araki. **

**Please Support the Official Release!**

* * *

**Capitolo Secondo: Ambizione (1)**

* * *

The United States of America. The shining beacon of democracy in the New Continent, the rising star within the grand game of Great Powers clashing against each other to gain control of the largest slices of land all over the planet that they could conquer through subtle diplomacy and fierce militarism.

Imperialism, albeit wavering and flickering before the stress of its own weight, was still running strong within most of the world, but it would be a lie to say that the USA was that much endeared by the concept of colonizing territories beyond its current continent.

The nation wasn't shy from imposing its institutions and its control over the natives, but the lands were ripe and meant to be exploited despite the immense waste of lives made for the sake of domination. It was kind of a pity that there was no moral qualm in going through 'patriotic pushes' to Manifest the American Destiny despite the horrible price the original locals were meant to pay.

Everyone still followed the logic and common sense of 'Big Fish eats Little Fish'. It wasn't a brilliant memory of the nation's past considering how much it developed to the modern day, but it was still a touch better than what was happening in Africa.

So when I walked through the small bridge that connected the ship to the Port of Boston. Numerous individuals had already disembarked, and I took some time to enjoy the different air that was owned by the American city. After a couple of days spent on the sea, it was just proper to take in a safe arrival to the USA.

Speedwagon trailed behind, his mood slightly dampened by the fact he had been feeling bored of staying limited to the ship for that long. Not that he hated the trip across the pond, in fact I could tell that he was enjoying that we were on a big journey away from the paperwork. The fellow blond was still impatient, and his curiosity over what we were going to find at destination burning through his usually calm demeanor.

For a few hours, I found his descent into crankiness worthy of a chuckle or two, but soon that very attitude ended up souring my own interest in reading a couple of books during the trip. There was just something about being constantly moved by the waves that made keeping track of the lines within the pages quite difficult.

I wasn't sea-sick, but ever since I had decided to heighten my senses through Hamon and my Stand, I was way too attentive of every single detail surrounding me. And that meant I could feel the sea despite being in a fairly distant cabin from the water. It was like I was trying to catch some rest, but then be stopped from doing so because of the ticking noise of a distant clock.

Endurance wasn't something I lacked, but the moment I stepped onto the creaky wooden planks of the pier, I allowed myself a long relieved sigh.

"Isn't this a fascinating place already, Robert?" I inquired. "Look at the buildings. The architectural style is truly different from home."

The man sighed in minor tiredness. "I can see that, boss. But maybe we should free the space for others to pass through."

I nodded, feeling a hint of embarrassment at having stopped right in front of the only way out of the ship. Once I had moved well away from obstructing people from passing, I resumed my efforts to start a conversation.

"I remember hearing that there was an infamous Fire back in 1872. Several workers were employed to make use of the building rubble as landfill. And the city has been expanding all thanks to that effort," I pointed out, drawing a frown from Speedwagon.

"Wait, how does landfill fix the damage of a fire?" He asked with a confused tone.

"It doesn't. While classic measures were implemented to repair the damage, the rubble that couldn't be recovered was used to fill up a large tract of the marshlands near Charles River."

The man nodded as he understood the explanation. We were soon moving, our luggage close to us as we reached for the administrative building at the end of the docks. The place was where we were to 'check in' and make sure that we were registered as traveling businessmen. Finding the proper clerk for this simple task proved to be quite time-wasting at first, mostly because there were many other individuals that were trying to go through our same process.

After almost an hour of waiting standing by the counters, we were allowed to speak with someone about our current situation. The old man that was assigned to our case was quick to pick our cards and give those a quick look. A frown appeared on his face, and his eyes narrowed right at me with a suspicious tone. Before he had the chance to accuse me of some silly antics, I decided to speak up and avoid any issues.

"My grandfather was Italian. The surname stuck around and… my mother wanted to give me a unique name," I explained curtly. "I've lived in the Birmingham for most of my life, but I always tried to-"

"It's enough… Mr. Divino. I don't believe you need to yap more excuses," The elder commented, turning to Robert. "Can you validate your version, Mr. Speedwagon?"

"I sure can. This young man has only minimal traits from his Italian lineage, mostly his nordic appearance."

It was still unpleasant to be reminded that the USA was currently having trouble handling the large immigration wave coming from the Italian peninsula. Despite agreements having been respected on both sides, the sudden increase of non-English speakers in the country led to some drastic measures and… racism to be implemented.

_I will have to see what cogs I can replace to fix this issue in the best way possible._

The reason that drove me to take in a fake identity stemmed from the fact that I wasn't planning to challenge any local businessmen early on. If I had come here in the States as 'Dio Joestar', people would've quickly realized that I was no rookie, and thus I would've been forced to stay on a defensive stance to avoid any bad surprises in that regard.

The creation of 'Damiano Divino' was almost a joke that slapped any of these smart folks that couldn't see the trickery behind that derisive name. In fact, I remember chuckling all-day long when I first came up with that name, imagining even then the priceless reactions I would've been blessed if I had played my cards accordingly.

Thirty minutes after being spared from any invasive controls, we were finally allowed to leave the building and… find where our current living quarters were located. Sure, I was the one that had personally overseen the purchase of the property that was meant to be our starting point, the place where the American branch of Made in Heaven was meant to be established.

It was going to be the trampoline for a greater expansion, and I knew better from wasting too many resources just yet on the continent without having gained something of a personal understanding of the current times' state of things. I needed to see with my eyes, to judge from my experiences. I wasn't going to throw money and pray to not screw myself over the chaotic state of the United States' economy.

After a swift walk around the city, we managed to reach our destination. The mansion I had bought was located in Tremont Street, a major section that was quite close to the main administrative buildings. A few carriages were going around the streets, the drivers surprisingly enough keeping a more active but also careful pace compared to the one we were familiar with.

Something that got a quip from Speedwagon that this was the first sign of how 'reckless the Yankees are', and a quick snort out of me as we went through the process of entering our current home. Once I opened the main doors with the key sent over by the former owner of the place, I made sure to close the entrance properly before giving a proper look at the small garden on the side. All in all, the place looked particularly pleasant, and incredibly ample for just two men with minimal needs for space.

Yet, I knew that it was going to be a brilliant place where to set up the branch since the three floors were enough to keep the basic divisions and even more if I ended up adding more groups to the various branches.

_Maybe a Fashion Department?_

As I mused quietly about the matter, I saw Robert giving me an uneasy look, his eyes just sparing a quick glance around before setting back onto my frame.

"Dio, I… I have a question."

I turned to Speedwagon with a curious look. "And that is?"

He sighed. "Where are our… rooms?"

Blinking, I started to resume the walking and take my time in admiring the beauty of this simple but humongous place. Still, I wasn't going to ignore the man's request since I had almost forgotten about the sleep bags resting just below his eyes, the sign that the guy really needed to get some rest after the long tiring journey we had just gone through.

My room was slightly bigger than Speedwagon's, but despite the difference of space, the blond was more than happy to have something that ample to house him for the time being. After dropping his suitcases near the inviting bed, the drained man softly landed his whole body onto the mattress, groaning happily at the softness of the surface.

Feeling myself particularly interested by the chance of resting away from the waves, I made my way to my own room and almost copied Robert's example the moment I dropped my own burden on the ground. But while the temptation was strong, I knew I just couldn't get some sleep just yet.

There was still so much that needed to be done before I could be rewarded with some golden hours of silence. Starting with the letter I had to write back home to confirm our safe arrival to both Hannah and George, I took a pen, an ink pot, and some paper to start with the task at once. Twenty minutes went through that first assignment, and another forty went burned as I started to set out all the things I had within my luggage.

By the time I was done with both instances, it was time for lunch and… I felt particularly tired. While it wasn't jet lag, I sure was feeling the difference in timezone, making me drowsy as I handled my butt through the kitchen in an effort to not scorch any of the eggs I was preparing. As I brought the result to the dining room, I was greeted by a happy and loud Speedwagon as the man had enjoyed that simple hour-long power nap to the fullest.

Another hour was burned in eating the meal I had made, and then I started to clean the plates with the help of the 'more awake' blonde. We were both messes in that circumstance, but I ultimately decided to pump some Hamon and solve most of my tiredness in that manner. I had long tried to not build too much of a dependence on the Ripple knowing that it wouldn't have been that unexpected for me to get my lungs strained during a fight. And with those flaws used against me, I needed to have some safe backup to avoid utter defeat against my future opponents.

After Pucci had mentioned that someone else was after me, I knew that I needed to keep a sharp eye over anything that could resemble an unexpected threat now that I had dealt with anything from Phantom Blood.

I doubted Santana was going to be freed anytime soon, not when nobody actually had the means to find and access his resting ground. The Pillar Men threat was one that I had decided to deal with some smart thinking. Time was on my side, and without UV lights being at our disposal just yet, I had to invest as much as I could in equipment that was meant to destroy both the lone Pillar Man and the rest of his kin back in Rome.

Once the dishes were cleaned, I finally spared two hours to rest and think of what to do next now that we were there… and I found myself endeared by a single thought that was as silly as mostly harmless.

"Are you sure you want to go out on your own?" A concerned Robert asked. "If you want, I can come with you-"

"And leave this place without someone to keep watch?" I interrupted calmly. "I appreciate the worry, Robert. But I believe it would be dumb to leave our things unprotected, not when… thieves might attack."

He slowly nodded. "And I know how to handle those if they decide to try to get in. Fair enough…

"Plus, I will be spending hours trying to get this letter sent. You saw how long that line was when we first came by," I mentioned, quickly drawing a dreading look out of the man. "So it's not much of a pleasure-only trip around the city. The boredom of wasting my life to wait on some lengthy line just dampens that look of things."

"So you plan to check around more tomorrow?"

"Yes," I replied, while in my mind I flatly refused that chance. I really wanted to explore now that I could, away from people keeping track of what I was doing. I needed some 'fresh air' and solitude.

Soon I changed to some warmer clothes, feeling the colder weather of the city taking me by surprise and brief irritation. I really thought the place would've been less cold than London, and yet I was surprised by how chilling some of the wind was in this area.

Once I was ready to go, I departed from the front door and started to make my way to the building assigned to International Mailing. With my eyes taking in as much as I could of Boston while walking to my destination, I started to hum quietly as I felt that things were less 'formal' than it had been back in London. Something about the American city just struck me as freer, and less limiting in terms of rules compared to the British capital.

_**But as I happily made a trip through the lively streets, a chase was currently happening… one where the ones being chased were unconsciously approaching my path. The heavens beckon…**_

* * *

If there was one thing that I couldn't help but despise a lot was when my plans were ruined by something completely unexpected, terribly confusing, and incredibly complicated.

I was enjoying a simple walk around Boston, looking at the people, listening to their accents, taking notes of their plights. I was making sure to do as much as I could to grow accustomed to the unfamiliar place, giddily appreciating the unusual sense of livelihood that was different from anything I had the chance of learning from.

It was a normal journey to the international postal office that was meant to be as uneventful as bland considering the long line that was surely going to be there waiting to make my life miserable for a couple of dreadful hours. I was so prepared to feel the nuisances of bureaucracy to remind me why I loved to delegate troublesome tasks to other people whenever it was possible. But as if I had prayed for something exciting to happen, I was regaled with quite the unplanned escalation when I found myself bumped on by a boy rushing towards me without looking.

The kid yelped, surprise flashing from his voice as he fell on the ground butt-first. The impact did nothing to my posture, merely getting a curious look out of me as I was more than prepared to lecture the child about running around without paying attention where he was looking. But I found my attempt foiled when three individuals, all wearing dark clothes and some white shirts came running towards us.

"End of the line there, little brat," The ringleader spoke, glaring as the boy stood up and tried to use myself as a shield from his attackers by hiding behind me. He barely reached the middle of my back. "Just give up the noisy pet, and things will be fine for ya."

"N-No," The kid muttered, his blue eyes shining strongly through the few curly bangs that fell onto his face.

Giving him a proper look, I noticed two curious things that got me even more interested in the matter. First, the boy… he was familiar. There was something about him that just screamed to the possibility I had seen him before somewhere… but that wouldn't make any sense since I had never been in the States until now and no character like him should've been alive at the time of Part 2 or 3.

Then, I gave a look at the 'pet' that was mentioned by the thugs, my eyes widening as I saw the shivering white-furred thing shivering madly as it had numerous cuts across its body. While I wasn't sure what was exactly going on with that situation, I had a good reason to believe the injuries were inflicted by the 'owner' of such a creature.

"Look pal, can you move away and allow us to-"

"I believe I will not move," I stated tensely. "In fact, I suggest you three leave the premises at once, or else I will find myself interested in intervening in this dreadful predicament. A trio of adults hunting down a child."

The guy on the left scoffed. "The little shit stole from us. We have all the rights to-"

"I can see the animal was abused. You've ten seconds to follow my merciful offer or not."

… "Hahahaha," The leader of the small squad laughed a little bit. "You truly have a pair but no brain to understand that this isn't a situation you can live through if we decide to put you out of this world, _friend_."

He emphasized this by showing the revolver holstered by his pants, with his colleagues soon following his example in an effort to deter me from actually helping the boy. Sadly for them, the revelation of their guns was going to be their downfalls as I allowed a smile to creep out on my face.

"What a terrible display! And I thought I was going to live today… a pity that morals long beat the sense of steel. A shame, a saddening one to that."

…

"A-Are you mocking us?" The goon on the right inquired, quickly realizing how stupid it was and speaking up again. "You're mocking us."

I sighed. "I will not make this discussion ever again. Leave now, or be subjected to… my mercy."

I allowed some of my personal Killing Intent to exude from my body, having the silent pressure exerted by my staring get a shiver from the trio of morons. They shared a look, surprised by my response, and the sudden change of temperature around us.

"Y-You think you can just strut around against us?! W-We are professional killers employed under the powerful Senator Edward Phillips. We don't take shit from nobody, you hear!"

...Phillips?

I shook my head at the irony, almost letting out a chuckle at how hilarious the situation was turning in mere moments. At first I just thought it was a silly situation created by luck… yet now I knew it was fate that had deemed it right to 'settle some score'.

_I wonder if Wilson was his son or grandson…_

"Once again, I don't care. You either leave, or stay to pay the consequences," I remarked seriously. "I will not ask again."

"Y-You… YOU!" The leader pulled his handgun out of his holster and… froze as he realized that something was wrong with his weapon. The small barrel was… tilted to the side, literally rendering the gun completely worthless.

His colleagues tried to reach for their own revolvers, but just like their leader's, the barrels were twisted in an odd direction. Jaws dropping at the scene, they gave me a confused and panicked look as I smiled through that absurd scene. With them being in range, it was easy for my Stand to quietly move around them and break down their toys without them noticing.

"I guess my luck struck again. Apologies, _gentlemen_, but I now have a good reason to put you out of commission at once."

I took the first step forward, breaking the freeze up that had their leader paralyzed on the spot. Eyes narrowing at me, the man bolted towards me, holding his gun upward in preparation to bash my head with it. His panicked determination died the moment he felt his throat exploding in pain as I slammed a punch onto his neck. I restrained my strength a little bit, rather unwilling to enjoy some brutality with a kid nearby.

The attack was still devastating, enough to make the man lose consciousness at the suddenness and intensity of the strike. A loud thud echoed around, getting the rest of the thugs to freeze up again and stare in dread at what happened to their chief. Terrified by my swiftness, they backed away for a moment as I took another step towards them.

"I will allow you one single offer. One that if you refuse I shall never present to you beyond now," I commented sternly. "Pick your boss, forget about the kid and _get out of my sight, you polluting trash._"

I was more than loud and clear as they scampered to retrieve their unconscious leader, sparing wary looks at me as I merely stared at the scene in utter silence. It wasn't the first time I handled this kind of idiots, and I knew it wasn't going to be the last by the looks of it. They didn't linger for long, saying nothing as they left the area and ran back to their headquarters. And I knew that was going to get some reaction from the gangs if I knew how unstable things were with these criminals.

Once the place was cleared, I allowed a nod to myself at the flawless resolution, with my attention now capable of fully addressing the reason behind that little 'lesson'. The boy looked uneasy as my sight was now upon him, his arms carefully tightening around the curious animal, showing how unwilling he was about parting ways with it.

"I will not harm you and your little friend. I don't believe children should be drawn into that much of a fight," I started to say with a nod. "Still, I find myself in a position to ask who you are, young man."

…

His blue-eyed stare moved away, and I could tell that the kid wasn't going to be an easy conversationalist with how difficult it was to have him open up to me. Holding back a grimace, I sighed and tried to keep my nerves calm while I handled this aftermath the best way I could.

"I don't wish to push you into doing something you don't want, but I can help your little friend if I know who I'm talking to," I offered, taking note of the boy's affection for the pet and exploiting it to get somewhere in that discussion. "And I don't think I've given any reasons to distrust me, in fact I was the one that dealt with your harassers."

…

He nodded, looking up at me with a nervous look.

"My name… is Bloody."

I frowned at the response, my mind feeling somewhat closer to the truth despite how strange of a name to give to a child.

"Your name is 'Bloody'.

"My name… is Bloody Valentine," The child spoke up a little louder. "P-Please, save him."

Now I knew what I was currently talking too. While the first conclusion would be that this was this timeline 'Funny Valentine', I knew that statement would be incorrect. Without entering in contact with the Saint's Corpse, Funny would've never achieved an extended life, leaving him an old man that could only prolong his dynasty.

Bloody Valentine wasn't the Stand User of **D4C**, he was… a descendant of that amoral patriot. Someone that by all mean was supposed to have a name akin to his ancestor. Like Funnier and The Funniest had in the Jorge Joestar timeline. I couldn't still tell if he was a Stand User… and part of me wanted him to not be one considering how powerful the Stand Users from the Valentine family were.

Still, my musings couldn't be given much priority as I had a promise to keep now that Bloody had decided to keep up with his part of the bargain. Carefully reaching for the trembling animal, I allowed my right hand to carefully grasp over its back before starting to get the Hamon going. The natural energy slowly but steadily flowed inside the creature, stopping the bleeding and increasing the pace it was healing from its wounds.

The process wasn't that complicated. Muddiburi had seen it fit to give me the proper steps to learn how to heal others beside myself. I could make use of this skill, but it was incredibly weaker than the one displayed a long time ago by the Tibetan Monk. Despite that, the Ripple technique still worked perfectly with what I wanted and, in the matter of a couple of minutes, the furred creature was freed from its suffering.

Looking relieved by the sight, Bloody decided to lessen the hold he had over the animal and… I was given a proper look at that odd 'pet'. With a fluffy tail that matched the same shade of white as the rest of the body, which appeared to be made of a soft 'cloud-like' texture, the only major differences that I could tell from a proper look was that its long ears had some dark-black tips, for its eyes to look like a pair of rubies and… for an amethyst like gem that was embedded in its forehead.

Its appearance didn't strike me as familiar, and as the animal seemed to happily recover from the previous ordeal, it turned its head towards me and… gave me a friendly nod.

"_Thank you_."

"You're we… wait what?" My jaws dropped as I tried to make sense of what I had just heard the vulpine creature speak. No, it wasn't a voice that I heard with my ears… it was-

"You spoke in my head? You can talk telepathically?" I questioned quickly, marveled by this discovery and the animal nodded again.

"_That is indeed correct. Apologies for the surprise_," He said with a truthful tone. "_My name is Zephy, and I wish to… ask you for your help._"

"You're fully healed," I said bluntly, my brain still failing to grasp the unusual situation. Sure, I had to face vampires, zombies, werewolves and a priest with numerous regrets and no means to make things right. But animals that can talk to my mind were a novelty for sure. Not a big one but still something to be surprised by.

"_This is not about me. Not anymore, that is,_" Zephy replied with a serious voice. "_My owner… she is currently a prisoner to the ones that tried to harm young Bloody_."

"This Senator Phillips?" I questioned, drawing a nod from the boy.

"He… he is trying to do something with Zephy's friend," Bloody explained. "She was nice and helped me escape but… but I got her captured."

"_It wasn't your fault, child. The blunder wasn't one you could've predicted or acted against with what you currently have_."

"I will side with Zephy on this. You shouldn't blame yourself for what you couldn't have prevented in any case," I commented with a nod. "I believe it would be best if we returned back to my house. I think the thugs are going to come back, this time with reinforcements."

"O-Okay," The child said with a nod. "But… you didn't tell us your name."

I hummed, feeling rather curious in how I was supposed to answer to that point. In the end, I decided to play it safe for myself. A simple introduction was in order, and I did so while smiling at the curious boy.

"My name is Dio Joestar. And I'm a businessman."

_**And with that, the stars aligned for an adventure beyond expectations. One that will see new friends, new resolutions, and another step towards the Heavens!**_

* * *

**AN**

**ARC 2 is here! And Dio begins his adventure in the States with a bang.**

**More info on Bloody Valentine and Zephy will be given next chapter… but I can say already that Zephy and his owner are part of the Xover bit I had announced. It's only them, and not much of a lore to be needing in these circumstances. It will be fun to depict these two characters since they flow so well with the degree of bizarre this universe is known for.**

**Hope you're ready for some big developments!**

**Omakes will resume by the next chapter.**


	26. Ambizione (2)

**DISCLAIMER**

**The following is a fan-based**

**FICTION**

**All Parts of the JJBA are all owned by Hirohiko Araki. **

**Please Support the Official Release!**

* * *

**Capitolo Secondo: Ambizione (2)**

* * *

The trip back to the headquarters was uneventful, but I hadn't expected much to happen with the boy that was supposed to be this timeline's Funny Valentine to speak up any further once I was done helping his 'curious friend'.

Zephy, the curious animal that at the touch felt so soft and… so abstract, quietly accepted the careful hold of the young blond, almost taking it as a means to have a protective position from where he could assist the young teen if he needed. I spared just a couple of glances, my mind offering me no idea what I was looking at.

Instead I waited for our arrival back to the safe hideout, with my hopes of some more info being given by the time we were there quite high. I could tell that there was a big story behind, something that had to do with this 'Senator Phillips'.

As much as I found the whole idea ironic since DIO killed with ease a possible descendant of this guy, I was wary of the current predicament that I was meant to go through now that I was protecting Bloody. I was playing in the man's own turf, and I could tell that his goons were going to return in bigger numbers. Sadly for them, I wasn't allowing this threat to go by without proper precautions.

Once I opened the door to the manor and allowed the two guests inside, I led them around the place as I tried to find out where Speedwagon had gone to. I found him reading by the small library on the ground floor. Sitting on one of the couches available in the middle area, he greeted me by lifting the glass of whiskey that he had poured himself during his quiet read.

"Dio, I'm glad to see you're back this early and…" He paused, taking notice in the middle of that sentence that I wasn't alone. "I might be a little too drunk."

I sighed. "Not enough to mistake our new guests as hallucinations, I hope."

The man almost seemed relieved at that rebuttal, but he spent a few moments in pure silence as he contemplated the two distinct individuals. He seemed mostly interested by the creature currently clutched by the young Valentine, and I couldn't lament his fascination over the peculiar critter.

Offering a seat to Bloody, I decided to pick some water before commencing a proper conversation with them both. Knowing how tense the boy was, I really didn't need to press him now that he was still shaken by recent events.

"If you need anything else, feel free to ask, young Valentine. Same for you, Zephy," I calmly announced as I allowed the younger blond to take hold of the glass filled with water. "I consider you both my good guests, and I shall make the appropriate courtesy of treating you as such."

"_I'm fine for now. Thank you for your hospitality, Dio._"

I nodded, turning to the boy and… noticing a confused look on his face.

"Something that unnerves you, young Valentine?" I inquired calmly, getting a quick nod from the teen.

"Mr. Brando, sir- I don't wish to warrant anything except honest answers out of this but… why are you doing all of this for us?"

I nodded, understanding the logic behind such suspicion. It was just too proper in a world like this one that everyone had to be troubled by the chances of kindness being just a fake cover for something more sinister and nefarious.

"I'm a man of mercy and politeness. While your skepticism is duly noted, I'm quite confident in saying that I have no other intentions over you or Zephy except being a good Samaritan."

"_And I can tell that he is meaning these words._"

Blue eyes looked down on the white-furred creature.

"Are you sure?"

"_I'm positive about this. Let's just say that I had the chance to check something about our kind helper, and now I know he is trustworthy_."

…

"May I inquire what you exactly do?" I asked, feeling rather unnerved by what kind of stuff might have happened while I was healing him.

He nodded, almost smiling at the question. "_I have a… gift. One that allows me to discern if someone is pure-hearted or not. You are perhaps a rarity among many, but still far from having the purest of intentions._"

Blinking, I had to concede to this point. "I might be quite greedy in minor circumstances."

"And stingy," Speedwagon flatly added, only for me to look at him rather intensely.

"You still owe me 10£, Robert," I pointed out and he sighed theatrically.

"See!"

I allowed a small smile before turning back on the duo.

"Still, while I have already agreed to house you for the time being, I wish to understand why you two are being currently hunted down by the men of this Senator. This Edward Phillips."

The critter seemed ready to speak up, but it was his 'charge' to take hold of this very burden as Bloody spoke up first.

"There is a proper justification of this, but it might require a backstory since… I don't wish to leave nothing hidden and reveal the truth at once."

Rather forceful and kind of silly, but I could understand when people just wanted to be as transparent as possible. Instead of just asking a more direct question, I allowed the boy to go through with this request. I really wanted to know some more about these two from the fellow blond's perspective instead of learning things through sudden revelations.

"My name is Bloody Valentine and… my family is one filled with disgrace," He started to reintroduce himself, this time adding a particular detail that had me frowning from the very beginning. Disgrace? I knew that Funny Valentine had to have been an amoral patriot, but for him to be classified as a 'disgrace' felt just awkward. Still, I allowed the boy to continue from that. "My father was once the heir to an influential politician that came close on multiple occasions on being elected as the president of the nation."

"That sounds an incredible feat, despite the fact he never became one," Robert commented, gaining a slow nod from Bloody.

"That was something that kept on fueling my grandfather to keep his pursuit of that seat of power. He had a brilliant dream that stemmed from the need of giving luster to the United States by turning it into a great power on par with Germany and Great Britain," The boy continued with his explanation. "One that was tarnished when my own father decided to stray away from it for love. My grandfather wished for him to marry the daughter of a wealthy senator, Edward Phillips, and when my father decided to pick someone of lesser status, this got him banished from the main family as well several threats from the senator himself."

"So this man hates you for being the prime result of a betrayal of interests?" I inquired carefully, knowing how this question would have appeared as insensible.

"Yes. When grandfather learned of my birth, he denounced any effort to name me after his likeness. He deemed me unfit for such a position and gave me the name of 'Bloody'."

"If your father was banished, then why did he allow him to name you with that?" Robert questioned, voicing the very confusion I too was feeling.

"...My parents were killed mere hours after I was born. It was a hit job from Phillips and… grandfather decided to claim me, saying that if he hadn't, his reputation would've suffered even more if he hadn't," The teen answered somberly. "While I wasn't neglected, my very existence would be a constant reason for resentment from my grandfather. He is not a bad person, but he considers me the reason why the family failed to see ascendancy to the presidency."

"He sounds rather terrible. It's not about being a good person or not, but that still his behavior is rather unacceptable."

"He didn't abuse me-"

"It doesn't mean it makes things better for him in my humble opinion," I sternly interjected, getting an unwanted flinch out of him. "Understand that just because someone doesn't physically hurt you, it doesn't translate on it being a normal thing for anyone to endure. And I can already tell that his attempt to undermine your existence through scorn and dismay is nothing more than a foolish antic that can't be condoned."

…

"Why?"

I blinked, frowning at the sudden rebuttal.

"What?"

"Why do you care about this? What do you gain out of this?"

…

"Do you understand what you're asking me? What gain can I make out of genuine compassion and sympathy?" I rebutted blankly, holding back some irritation about these very queries. "As I've said before, I don't gain anything from helping you two… except the fact I'm doing this because I know it's the right thing to do. I, Dio, believe that in the future a world will exist where distrust will become a distant memory of a troublesome past. I wish to bring faith in people, I want to offer them a chance at life."

"And you believe I have one, Dio?"

…

"Yes," I admitted without hesitation. "You, Bloody Valentine, will become someone worthy of personal pride and admiration. You shall not be a follower but a leader."

One that will be far greater from this universe's version of Funny Valentine at least. Who knows, maybe I will end up making him a president with due time and attention…

"You sound like you mean it."

"_Because he means this promise, Bloody."_

I stared at Zephy, now starting to get really uneasy about this comment of his. I had to know how he knew so much about my mind if what it took was a mere touch as I healed him with my Hamon… and how I didn't feel anything that could suggest such a bizarre predicament.

"What about you, Zephy? How did you end up becoming a companion to Bloody?"

The animal gave me a calm nod, almost expecting me to go through with that. Seriously, how he was pulling this?!

"_My owner- my warden… She is someone that can be considered a guardian of sorts. She wasn't directly tied to Bloody but she ended up finding him in need of help as a group of men were trying to kidnap him,_" The critter explained. "_We were on our way back to our home when we stepped in to protect the boy. We succeeded at first, but a couple of hours later they came back prepared for us. Ka- My warden fought bravely, but after years of limited action, she ended up overwhelmed by the large number of opponents and by the fact they had engaged some of our old enemies in this very instance. She was captured, but before being taken away she left me with her greatest treasure, something that made her safety paramount for our enemy as much as it is for me, for I'm the Spirit Guardian of such a gift._"

"You were going to say her name. Why do you refuse to give out that information?" I pressed calmly, finally getting Zephy to look nervous at that query.

"_We've traveled around the world for a long time. Names are powerful, and I know you've hidden yours in an effort to hide away from any possible threats._"

"But you're not among enemies right now. And I can assure you nobody is eavesdropping."

…

"_I suppose you're raising a fair point. My apologies then, I was still taken by a mentality I had to grow accustomed to for many years now._"

I nodded. "You're forgiven. I can relate with that kind of problem."

"_I'm glad to hear that. And since you've asked this in particular, my owner's name is… Kate._"

…

"Kate?"

"_Yes._"

"Nothing else like a surname or-"

"_Her full name is Katherine_."

…

Still no surname. Despite my confusion at this, the animal seemed to have other things in mind as he continued with his intervention.

"_She is the current holder of a tool that has been under her family for centuries now. A blessed object given to Man by the Gods themselves. A tool of justice and duty._"

Just as he said that, his form started to glow and… a small sphere left his chest and floated up above for everyone to see. I was confused by the development, but continued to stare at it as the strange light soon morphed its frame to something else. And my jaws dropped as I realized what kind of shape the orb was now taking.

It was a slim frame that was slightly curved. A blade- a sword. The weapon was crafted rather finely, and while it was sheathed in that fine light-brown wood which its hilt was produced with too, I could tell that the man behind this object was quite a master. Still, I felt confused by the fact that the blade itself was a Japanese one. A katana.

_And the owner has a Western name. I'm… confused._

"_The Shin-Aki, also known as the Sword of Eternal Light, is the truest embodiment of Light itself. A shining beacon of truth that many have only heard legends about,_" Zephy continued with a nod. "_The reason why I'm allowing you to hold it now is that I know you will not try to use it._"

I frowned. "Can you read my mind? At this point I can only say it's the only viable option."

The critter sighed, but shook his head to decline that possibility. Still, I decided to test what he was trying to say when he mentioned that I wouldn't have 'used it'. I carefully opened my palms, allowing for the sheathed blade to safely land in my hold and, as it did, I felt my entire body tense up in pure shock. There were not enough words to describe the sheer absurdity behind this kind of sensation as I grasped at the sword.

It was still sheathed, yet now I could tell its beauty was just a fake mask of the massive _insanity_ held inside of it. A massive amount of power was currently held within the blade, and now I knew why Zephy had been so certain I wouldn't have unraveled that impressive sword.

Awe and surprise filled my mind as I admired the tool closely, only for a single hint of… hamon to leave through the small opening created by the sheath and hilt. At least, that was what I could consider hamon since it felt close to it. I was perplexed by this, but I decided against lingering too much about it and I knew the critter wanted the blade back as the object started to glow again. Soon it was back in its orb form and softly floated mid-air until it reached back the talking animal.

"_It would seem I was correct._"

I didn't reply to that, feeling like I had lost somehow by expecting something different out of that interaction. Just as this strange exchange concluded, our attention was stolen by loud noises coming from the nearby streets. A large mob had formed by the side of the building where the main entrance was located and… I recognized a single individual leading the whole circus.

"Who are these people?" Robert asked, looking as worried as guarded as one would be at this sudden intrusion.

"Th-They are back," Bloody commented, looking nervous despite Zephy's efforts to calm him by nuzzling on his chin.

I found myself sighing, walking up to the entrance of the library only to be stopped by Speedwagon.

"Dio, I know you're strong but… I don't think this is a wise move, to try and attack alone."

I glanced up at the fellow blond and offered him a calm look. "If I acted 'alone', then yes, you would be right."

It's been a while since I had a legitimate reason to use my Stand beyond some simple tricking or threatening… so maybe it was about time I tested my prowess on the field instead of trusting my training sessions for once.

_**So I left the room and made my way to the entrance, right where the core of this furious crowd had rallied by. And I wasn't planning to allow anyone to harass us for long...**_

* * *

I stared really hard at the smug-looking guy that I could recognize being the leading goon of the trio that had tried to kidnap Bloody and Zephy.

From the way he was strutting back and forth between the ranks of well-dressed criminals backing him up, I could tell that he expected that to be enough to handle me on my own. A wrong assumption, and one I was planning to correct the moment he decided to attack me.

"Look who's there. The little fool that thought he could just waltz in and attack us without any apparent reason."

"I doubt you would call preventing a suspicious attempt at kidnapping nothing if you were within the offended party," I returned with a flat tone. "But seriously, I thought you would've been smart enough to not draw more attention to yourselves."

"As if we give a dime about attention, you stupid Brit," Another goon answered, tightening his hold over the metal tube he was currently holding a weapon. "You trifled with us, and we shall make sure you pay accordingly to this attempt to disrespect us."

…

"I believe you mistook my warning for a feeble request. I decided to spare you the first time around, but I feel less compelled to do so now that you're all here and… without guns."

One would've expected for the criminal morons to be smart enough and arm themselves for this kind of fight. They didn't get the memo that physical approaches were hardly going to yield any results against me. But it was right as I pointed this out, that I realized the real reason why they weren't armed to the teeth was because a couple of cops had already set up some blocks on the streets nearby.

I was confused why they hadn't charged at the group, but I could tell that they were waiting for reinforcements. The group was far from easy to manage for their current numbers, and I knew I wasn't going to receive much support considering that they weren't rushing in with their guns since none of the attackers had any weapon worthy of that deadly usage.

I sighed once again, this time my eyes boring dully on the still-confident idiot leading the rest of the moronic cadre.

"How about you just leave? I don't wish to leave blood stains for the police to be forced to clean up once I'm done with you."

"Still cocky as before? We shall teach you a lesson, you foreign dog!"

Two men approached first as soon as I said those words. Both seemed ready to attack at the same time and yet they were too slow to intercept my attacks and stop me from retaliating quite brutally. Sweeping the closest of the two fools with a quick kick, I dodged the next one's punch before I slammed a punch on the back of his head. The hit had the prick instantly go unconscious, landing on the currently downed companion and temporarily holding him back as I focused on the rest.

Instead of keeping on going against me in groups, I was soon rushed by the whole small army. What followed next was something many locals in the city were going to remember as the inglorious beating. Twenty men would attack a single individual, which was me, and end up getting pulverized in a mix of my personal attacks and **｢****ACT 2****｣'**s own brand of punches and kicks that would result in an absurd victory on my part.

Once I was done easing my own guard, I advanced toward the ringleader with a serious look. The guy, who once regarded him with smugness and pride, was now groveling like a pathetic worm. Lifting him up from the ground was easy, and soon he was looking at me with clear terror.

"You will tell me where your boss lives. Now."

"I-I'm sorry-"

"That's now that I was asking about, wasn't it?" I pointed out quietly. "Where does Senator Phillips live?"

"H-He-" The thug paused, failing to formulate coherent words in that predicament. "H-he lives in New York. He owns the Romero Tower and- Please don't kill me..."

…

I dropped him on the floor. "Tell your boss that he ended up scorning the wrong person. And that he will need to not worry since I'm personally going to visit him quite soon."

"Y-yes," The goon replied, still trembling. "Too kind- you're so kind."

He scampered without saying much more about this with the rest of the gang soon following his example shortly after. As I turned to the entrance, I found both Speedwagon and Bloody standing by the doorstep as I walked up to them.

"Robert, I believe I will have to take a quick trip to New York to fix this situation. It will not take me too long," _Hopefully_. "At this stage, I don't think this matter can be shrugged off until the main issue is solved."

"And I can tell you want me to stay behind, right?" He asked, sounding rather annoyed by this. As much as I wanted to say he wasn't up to the task, I knew he had a point in actually joining this fight since these weren't supernatural monsters and he could actually do something about it for once. I was unhappy about this situation myself, but I didn't have much of a choice about it.

"Until the proper group meant to house the mansion has arrived, you will stay there to garrison the place. I believe they will try to attack here once again while I'm gone, and you might need some extra support to fend them off," I replied with a sigh. "And since the police are already there, it shouldn't be difficult to ask their assistance in setting up a temporary garrison in the area to prevent any funny business from actually happening."

The man gave me a reluctant nod, and I couldn't do much about it considering the circumstance. Not only I had to get this prick dealt with, but also free 'Kate' from her imprisonment and deal with these old enemies behind her capture in the first place. I hadn't expected so much action on this first day in the states, but now I knew I couldn't exactly pull out from the mess I had unwittingly tripped into.

_I can already hear George's quiet chuckling at the fact he was right in saying that I was going to find trouble the moment I stepped away from his watchful eyes._

Couldn't do much about it, but that didn't mean I was exactly happy and fine about it.

"So we are… leaving now?" Bloody asked confused, almost surprised that we were leaving this soon instead of waiting and resting for a moment.

"Considering how pressing the matter is, I believe it would be best if we already took the first train directed to New York. The faster Senator Phillips is dealt with, the quicker we will be able to free… Kate."

Zephy nodded at this last detail, and I knew the teen was mostly perplexed than reluctant of this decision. I could tell it had to sound outright bizarre that someone that had just battled a non-negligible amount of strong-looking men without being injured even once was now thinking of skipping some time to recover all for the sake of finding a fast closure to this predicament.

After picking up the proper things I needed for this journey, I took out one of the three maps I had decided to bring with myself. The paper was particularly detailed, and I quickly led the small group right to the nearest training station. The clerk was a little hesitant to take Bloody's ticket, but he seemed to surrender to his concerns when I brought up the fact the kid was actually my young cousin.

The fellow blond decided to go through with this act, just for the sake of avoiding causing any extra issues for the three of us as we were finally allowed to board the first train directed to Manhattan. I gave the seat close to the window to the boy, and soon we were both sitting beside each other as we waited for the train to start moving.

While I had thought the teen had no plans to speak up in these precise moments, his mind still wrapped around what had happened a little less than an hour earlier. I was busy with my own thoughts when Bloody gave a quick tug at my sleeve, catching my attention instantly.

"Yes?"

He looked curious and… nervous. "Dio, I… I don't wish to sound nosy but… there is something I wish to ask you."

After frowning at him for a while at that strange request, I ultimately decided to concede to him this, whatever he was planning to ask me. I sighed, nodding as to gesture him to go ahead with this and… I was surprised by the question he would ask about.

"I saw… something fighting alongside you- A spirit. I remember seeing something similar when you first helped us but… but it wasn't as evident as before that point."

I did a masterful work in hiding away a bit of shock at the fact that for some reason Bloody could actually see Stands. The original Funny Valentine managed to get D4C by entering in contact with the Saint's corpse but… in the original timeline it was never said that the man obtained one this quickly.

Once again, I was impressed by how much there was that I had yet to learn about the boy and… how the first timeline's counterparts to Part 7 actually ended up developing their own abilities and lives. Still, I had a question to answer to, and no issue in giving a proper answer out of it.

After calmly explaining the boy what a Stand was and what mine could do, he asked if he knew why he too could see them. And since I knew it wasn't through the Devil's Palm since it didn't exist in this world or the Arrows since those were still buried somewhere in Egypt, I was quite perplexed how the young man managed to attain this capacity through personal experiences.

I merely replied with a genuine answer, and I told him I really wasn't sure how he did it. Zephy's confirmations about my truthfulness proved to be as irking as helpful since the boy had some strong sense of loyalty to the critter and was willing to listen up to his words as the absolute truth.

And so, as the train started to move, I was left to my thoughts about this mysterious Kate and what kind of person she was considering the mythical sword she owned. I found myself falling asleep during the trip, eyes closing as I allowed dreams to endear my rest and…

_**I soon dreamed of twelve curious symbols floating and rotating in a circular manner, in the middle of their circle… an orb similar to Earth itself.**_

* * *

**AN**

**You know, since this Dio is now a Joestar… he should have a curse about vehicles that hate him, don't you think?**

**Also, dropping some extra clues on who these people are. What an odd name for a Japanese woman to be called Kate, right?**

**P.S. directed to a certain Beta-Reader. I hope you're not going to drop extra clues about this, I'm really trying to keep readers from discovering stuff- and I need to build up the tension! The Heavens demand it! XD**

**And now… Here is the promised Omake!**

* * *

**Omake 17: Padre e Figlio**

* * *

Staring at the figure currently sitting in front of me, I really wasn't sure if I should be baffled or endeared by the many possibilities, questions, and opportunities this predicament left us.

Hannah had found this individual standing outside the main headquarters, looking particularly confused and being unable to speak much English as he tried to get directions out of the passing crowd. Taking him inside so that his issue could be solved, I really hadn't expected for this visit to be much of a problem… until I had the chance of seeing the man in question and learning of his name.

He finished drinking from his cup of tea, moving the now-empty contained back to the table as he addressed me with perplexed blue eyes. A shade that I had seen only on George and Jonathan, with nobody coming close to it. His accent when using English words was evident, and it confirmed that the man was fluent only in Italian and Japanese.

"Dimensional… travel, signore?"

I found myself nodding at these rusty wordings, having some trouble for the first time in a long while to commute in words the emotions my mind was drowning in. The itching coming from within the chest was a mix of confusion, sadness, and a speck of familiar interest over the surprised fellow.

"It's fine if we continue this conversation in Italian. I'm capable of holding myself with it, signor Giovanna," I replied with a polite tone, trying to hide away any feeling I had about this unexpected encounter.

Giorno Giovanna gave a relieved nod, taking a brief moment to fix his dark jacket, the very one that dignified his stats as 'Boss of Passione' as he waited for a proper explanation from me.

"You see, signor Giovanna. The tale you've mentioned, the one that sees you fight this… priest- this has yet to happen. Or it would've happened if this timeline followed the same events as yours," I paused a moment to sigh, realizing how confusing this explanation already was. "Let's just say that… I know that it's not a mere case of time-travel."

"And how are you so sure of this, signore?" The fellow blond inquired. "You seem quite convinced of this and… if I may, I can't help but feel like I've seen you before."

I gritted my teeth at that, knowing that the young man surely noticed the resemblance between me and the photo he had about his father. I had expected this to happen, which is why I had thought up a good response to that.

"My father had Italian ancestors. I believe they were prominent in either Lombardy or Piedmont," I admitted calmly. "But I've never left the Isles. In fact, I was planning to make my first trip out of home in a couple of months from now."

"That's… interesting. I'm sorry if I sound so suspicious all so suddenly. It's just I… feel like I know you, from somewhere," Giorno answered tensely. "And it's not just by appearance. Something about your presence here reminds me of something I've been only mentioned about."

"Quite the confusion response, signor Giovanna," I pointed out quietly. "I can't help but feel like you're doing this on purpose."

…

"Maybe I am, signor Dio."

The atmosphere changed almost instantly, and I felt pressure build up as a familiar golden figure manifested behind Giorno, rushing at me with aggressive intentions. Before **｢****Gold Experience****｣ **could actually go through with this attempt, my own Stand appeared and delivered a punch through his flawed defense, putting an end to his assault.

The Boss almost tumbled down at the blow, a surprised look manifesting as he realized something shocking.

"Y-You have a Stand?"

I sighed, waiting for **｢****ACT 2****｣ **to move in a proper defensive posture to cover for any follow up attack.

"There are two ways to manifest one. First is the Arrow, and then there is the pure fighting spirit of a soul displayed through sheer willpower," I calmly explained. "And before you use GER, I wish to remind you that his power is to nullify or revert the effects, it can't fend off against a full blown assault."

…

"You know about-"

"I know a lot about you Giorno Giovanna. I know enough to be surprised, confused, and even wary of why you ended up in this specific time period," I interjected flatly. "And before you ask… no, I'm not your father and I'm not the one behind your current predicament."

…

"You're Dio Brando-"

"I'm Dio Joestar, Giorno. And before you ask the difference, then let me explain in a simple way," I said before turning around unfastening my shirt. He looked confused, but soon enough he seemed to realize that something was missing from my shoulder and neck. "I'm not a vampire stealing someone's body, and I don't have your very mark. In fact, the man whose body my counterpart is well alive and my adoptive young brother."

His jaws hung low at the revelation, and his mind lost a moment to ponder over the absurdity in full display.

"Maybe… I came to a time before-"

"DIO didn't have a Stand until Diavolo gave him the Arrows," I interjected again. "I will say this just this once and I will not repeat myself. I'm not the man known as Dio Brando, I'm Dio Joestar."

…

"This is so confusing."

"Once in a while, this is what I think about myself. Try to live a life where any dimensional visitors that know of my other version try to aim at my life for this," I pointed out dryly. "I understand your need to suspect me- I bet Polnareff told you a lot about what DIO did during what happened in Egypt."

"Just a couple of things," The young man admitted. "But I suspect there is more than it, isn't it?"

I sighed and nodded. "From my understanding, the only one that could've put you in this predicament is Enrico Pucci. You said you decided to check on Jolyne Joestar's situation after being contacted by Joseph, but that after fighting **｢****Made in Heaven****｣ **you wound up in this particular place by using GER. Right?"

He nodded, still recoiling from the sheer amount of unplanned developments all unfolding at once.

"Then I guess the only way to bring you back is to have Pucci return you to your dimension. And worry not, he is not an ally of mine, but he isn't an enemy- just an observer."

"You know him and-"

"I don't know him personally. I know he is lurking around and, now that you're here, he will have to make an appearance. He will be more than happy to bring you out of here and right back to your timeline."

"You seem sure of this," Giorno pointed out, making me sigh.

"I've studied his pattern in how he acts in this universe. He is not the Pucci you've fought, I would say he is a despairing version of him since he had to be disappointed with certain results if I'm here to make the difference."

…

"What?"

"As I've said, I'm not your father. That should be more than enough to put an end to that topic."

"I'm quite sure it doesn't."

"I will not offer anything more about it-"

"I believe you should."

…

"Are you talking back at me?"

"I believe that's a conversation, padre."

My mouth opened but no sound left from there.

…

"I'm not your father-"

"Indeed, you're padre."

…

"Giorno, I will not-"

"I, Giorno Giovanna, believe you are still to be called 'padre'. I don't know the reason why I shouldn't since you keep yourself cryptic with your motivations."

…

"You know what? Fine, I will accept this little annoyance- but I will not call you figlio for nothing in this world-"

"What is that term? I don't think I heard it well enough."

…

"What?"

"That word you're not supposed to label me as."

"What, you mean Figlio-"

"Yes father?"

My jaws dropped at that trickery. I couldn't believe it that I had been hit with a reverse Dad Joke.

Groaning I stood up from my chair and paced towards the room's only door.

"Lunch is in two hours from now, and I don't want to hear anything about you trying to boss around my workers," I proclaimed with some irritation. "Lest you prefer to be put in time out- and I can assure you not even GER will pull you out of that detention, Giorno."

The door closed as I left the office, leaving behind a particularly smug-looking blond as I decided to vent off the frustration through some training.

_**Let's hope for Pucci to come by soon, or else I might lose my marbles trying to handle my so- Giorno.**_

* * *

**AN**

**This is Canon Giorno. But I can say that there will be an 'Absolute Divinity' Giorno in this story. Don't expect for him to appear any time before late ARC 3 or ARC 4 tho.**

**REVIEW Q&A!**

**Zahiddreux****: Things went different. You know, different timelines, different events.**


	27. Ambizione (3)

**DISCLAIMER**

**The following is a fan-based**

**FICTION**

**All Parts of the JJBA are all owned by Hirohiko Araki. **

**Please Support the Official Release!**

* * *

**Capitolo Secondo: Ambizione (3)**

* * *

A couple of things I had failed to take into account when I decided taking the train would've been the quickest option to reach New York were that the train themselves here in the US weren't as fast as they were back in the United Kingdom, with the fastest going at 50 Mph (and was also the rarest to find at the station) and the rest going at best at 25 Mph; and that the journey was going to take a few stops before we arrived at our destination.

So when I woke up as one of the workers came to notify the passengers that there was a malfunction in the engine of the vehicle that would've taken at least an hour to fix, I opted to get us out of the station instead of lingering around for too long and not expect for assassins to already searching for us. While this guy wasn't Part 3!Dio, I knew that with either money or charisma people can do so much in this world. And I was my own example about that very predicament.

Despite my lack of knowledge over the city of Worcester, it was easy enough for me to buy a newspaper and find a couple of interesting places to check while we were wandering around this part of the States. Some of which, much to my annoyance, were closed to us because of the late hour.

"But why are we visiting a church?" Bloody slightly lamented as I led the small group towards the St. Peters Catholic Church, the location having been built just early this year and having yet to be completed by its architect, Patrick W. Ford. While the main body of the structure was finished, some of the ground where it stood on had cracked during the construction, leading to some long-term operations to be started to rectify the damage before it can become fatal for those that occupied it.

"Because we've time to waste and I find it interesting as a place to check."

"But why aren't we just… pressing the fixers to repair the train at once?" The boy pressed on much to my surprise and minor irritation. Until that point he had been particularly calm and quiet over the situation, but I swiftly realized that his moodiness wasn't one of inherent arrogance. It was worry, the kind aimed at pressing matters that were slowly guilt-tripping him in making hasty decisions.

"Such a task would require time, nonetheless the fixers 'try to repair it at once'."

"Your Stand-"

"It isn't perfect. It can do much, but miracles? That's well beyond his current capacities," I calmly interjected. "I understand why you're being this upset with my relative ease, young Valentine, but mine isn't a disregard of our objective. Rather, I think that if we stayed for too long around and we started drawing attention to ourselves by forcing the workers to go beyond their current ways to fix such a troublesome issue, we are going to endear the attention of any assassins nearby."

The fellow blond tensed up at the last half. "Assassins? Why would they want to send assassins when they want to capture us?"

Before I could answer that question, I was beaten to it by Zephy as the animal agreed with my point of view.

"_Dio isn't wrong to believe we will soon be matched with people with malicious intents, well beyond the mere idea of capturing us,_" The guardian muttered calmly, but resolutely. "_Now that we have a guide that is able to hold off any possible captors, our enemy will try to hire more dangerous people on our trail_."

"So we could end up with someone already tailing us as we speak?"

I pushed myself to not look around to emphasize his point as I knew the darkness around us shrouded us just enough from any distant pursuers, but I still nodded at the query as I knew it held some truth.

"That could be correct. But right now I can't say if this is indeed the case," I quietly admitted. "Which is why it would be best if we try to spend at least thirty minutes wandering around instead of keeping by the station where an ambush could've been set up."

The boy had to concede to that point, and we soon ended up entering inside the mostly-completed church. The place was ample, and just a handful of people had decided to visit it as of that night.

Most were old people, individuals that were alone in their houses and confided in God to either preserve their legacy through family or to remember those they cared for and were now lost. The only priest was busy with the sermon dedicated to the deceased ones, sparing little attention to our entry in this house of God, and ignoring how we decided to take a seat far away from the altar.

Once we were all sitting, I took a moment to look around and check if anyone had entered inside the place before us. Anyone suspicious by… Jojo's standards. Everyone there except us looked pretty normal, and after a couple of silent seconds spent trying to find any elusive assassin, I finally let out a relieved sigh as I found nothing of that kind.

"Are we clear?" Bloody asked and I merely nodded.

"_I guess nobody would try to start any attacks inside a church,_" The critter pointed out. "_Places of cults are hardly chosen as battlegrounds._"

"It all depends if any problematic stalker just doesn't care if this place is a church or not," I remarked. "There is always a non-negligible minority of people that would do everything to complete their mission, even if it means desecrating such a peaceful church."

"So we could still be attacked?"

"Yes," I replied with a nod, only for Zephy to sigh unsure about my response.

"_It's still rare. Faith is a powerful tool-_"

"That can be turned into a tool to control people." I interrupted politely. "There are nations where the leadership is born through religion, through the concept of these governors being the representatives of a deity, and so have divine rights and are to be praised as gods themselves."

"_Do you believe praying is wrong, Dio?_"

"No-"

"_And do you think faith in this context is somewhat correlated to any form of corruption?_"

…

"No."

"_Then I believe your point of view, albeit correct, is wrongly-applied in this circumstance._"

I sighed. "Fair enough, I guess I can embrace the fact I'm still human and can be wrong."

"_Mine wasn't an attempt to sound condescending, or to dismiss your interesting perspective of the world,_" Zephy added calmly, drawing my attention to him. "_In fact, I believe your mind is so impressive and… so familiar. I can't help but wonder how you will handle someone like Kate._"

"Is that something I should be worried about?"

"_Do you fear what you don't know, Dio?_"

I blinked at the counter-question. "No."

"Then no, it's nothing you have reason to fear."

I decided against inquiring some more about it, feeling like the answer was something I really didn't wish to know for myself. Instead I turned to look at the younger blond and… interest myself over the kind of thoughts the young man had for the church itself.

"What about you, Bloody?"

"Huh?" The boy inquired with a frown. "I wasn't listening to-"

"What is your opinion about faith?"

"Faith? You mean if I believe in God or-"

"Or anything you think it's worth believing in," I allowed with a nod. "God isn't the only belief you could try to have faith in. Work, love, a greater purpose, or even a humble one."

…

He turned back to the altar and to the statue of Jesus Christ in the cross, his expression morphing in a thoughtful one as he contemplated my words and valued the proper way to answer my question. I took this opportunity to look around once again and check for any suspicious figure. My eyes lingered over an individual I hadn't seen the first time around.

The man was sitting down two benches away from us. He was wearing a gray worn out cowboy hat, a dark-blue coat and what appeared to be black boots over some black pants. His face was covered as he was tilting forward and down in a mourning position, the hat creating a shadow that further made it difficult for me to discern what kind of individual I was looking at.

From the way he was posing, I was quite certain he was genuinely remembering someone he had lost, but I knew from his attire that this wasn't the only thing he was trying to achieve through this visit at the church.

"I believe..." Bloody muttered, snapping my attention off the curious individual and back to him. "I believe I have faith in those that mean well in this world. That there is a chance for things even in this country to become greater than they are. For everyone."

"Greatness isn't a horrible aspiration, especially when you aim to bring it even to those that are unable to reach it," I commented positively. "It's an admirable faith. One that I find myself close to."

"_I don't think you've mentioned yours yet, Dio._"

I blinked at the swift comment, but still conceded the point with a nod.

"My faith is tied to the Heavens. The capacity of someone to be able to lead the world away from the squalid corruption it is festered in and throw it in a pure golden era for everyone to enjoy and prosper," I explained with a nod. "By this, I don't try to stand out from human beings, in fact I believe everyone can achieve their goals through their efforts to reach the heavens, to break the limit and show their purest and truest form in an effort to unlock their full potential."

"_But what kind of leader would you be, Dio?_"

"What?

Zephy sighed. "_I assume my question is quite broad. There are many kinds of leaders one can become, but I have to ask… which one do you believe being by aiming to… conquer the world?"_

…

"One that leads by example. I don't wish to control the world as a tyrant, or someone that just goes through with this ambition out of greed and maliciousness," I answered earnestly and truthfully. "I've seen how dreadful of a path that one is. Many good men changed in the effort to come close to shape history and try to make it better… only for their hand to sway in favor of the opposite."

"_And you think you can do it?_"

"I've dreamed for long about the end of my ambition. Will I be happy about what I did to reach that point? Will it all be worthy of the sacrifices made? Will I remain the same in soul, mind, and ideas?" I continued speaking, now feeling the truth rise up from the deepest corner of my head. "As much as I'm frightened by what will become of me, I've long accepted this burden and duty. For I, Dio, know that the heavens are mine to take and turn into everyone's hopes and dreams."

Bloody nodded, the boy giving an awed look as he listened to my speech, and there wasn't anything else said beyond these words. Zephy seemed satisfied with my response, and I felt particularly tired despite the little rest I got from the train ride.

Instead of staying around the church with the chances of the assassins having infiltrated the building while I was busy talking, I decided to start leading the two out of the place and trace our steps back to where the station was. My sight would once in a while turn to look behind us, stopping for a while to see how the man I had seen before, the one I was fairly certain was one of the assassins sent to hunt us down.

I tried to take some detours to scroll him off from us, but as I took charge and paced swiftly towards the closest alley, I found out that this step had been expected by two other men that were waiting for us at the other end of the empty section.

"Damiano Divino, you've played with fire by challenging Senator Philips' pride," One of the two mentioned as they drew their revolvers out of the holsters. "You shall be blessed with a quick death at our hands, the Swift Hands brothers."

Never heard of them, but I felt particularly frustrated when I saw the man from the church pause behind us, completely sealing away any way out and… putting me in an awkward situation. **｢****ACT 2****｣** could handle one of the side, but to turn in time to catch the bullets from behind might be troublesome.

If I had been alone, I could've easily jumped away and allowed the shot to go missing… Yet with a group that was limited in terms of mobility, I had to play my cards safe and see for anything that could delay a coordinated attack.

"I suppose your nickname is related to the speed behind your drawing."

"Mostly correct, scum. Sadly for you, we will not allow any sweet talking to get us from stopping to get some big easy money out of-"

**BANG!**

My Stand manifested at once, and I turned around to address the bastard that had decided to shoot us from behind. But as I turned around to stop the unexpected bullet, I saw something absurd unravel before my eyes.

The bullet soared and I was about to intercept it… when it soon started to move around us and… strike the two bandits in front of us through their temples, effectively killing them both at once with a single bullet.

The mysterious man continued to hold his strange gun out, the smoke leaving the barrel eventually ceasing as the man retreated it and put it back in its holster.

"Apologies for the late intervention, partners, but I was mostly distracted by the rich fella's speech about a brighter future and all," The man said with a southern accent. As he finished to say this, he moved to adjust his hat, revealing his blond hair, thick mustache… and steel-blue eyes.

…

_I've seen this guy before…_

"I'm Derek Horse, and I wish to apologize for hesitating in dealing with them trouble-makers," The man introduced himself loudly but still calmly. "I was really taken by them words of yours, Mr. Dio, even though these fellas were my target all along."

"You are not an… assassin?"

"Good Lord, I would never come close to harm a child. I'm an upstanding law-bringer, never the guy that harms kids and women," Derek replied proudly. "But I understand these scums were trying to kill yah. I guess you have some explanation 'bout that."

This has to be… either the grandfather or the great-grandfather of Hol Horse. The man behaved like a more pleasant and humble version of his descendant, and while I was unsure how to answer the man's joviality, I had to concede there was something about his presence here that still left me upset and confused.

Looking down at his 'odd' gun, I couldn't help but recognize that it wasn't a mere weapon. No, it was **｢****Emperor****｣**. **｢****ACT 2****｣ **was fairly certain of it as the humanoid stared intensely at the support Stand and… eventually drew the attention of the cowboy.

"Good God, what's that?" He half-exclaimed, aiming a finger at **｢****ACT 2****｣****.**

"That, Mr. Horse, is something that makes you quite the fascinating individual," I mentioned calmly as I replied to his question. "What you're seeing is the manifestation of my soul, just like your peculiar weapon is. A Stand, to be more precise."

...

"_**What? My gun is part of my soul and- what?!"**_

* * *

The workers were close to completing their efforts to fix the train. Just twenty minutes, and we were going to resume our journey to reach New York. It was enough time to buy a ticket for our newest companion, and even more to get some misunderstandings and confusions solved at once.

"So you're telling me that, in this world, there are people that just can 'manifest' these 'Stands' and… fight with them?" The cowboy asked and I offered a slow nod as I sat down in front of me.

"There are different kinds of Stands, and while most of those can be used to maim people, there are some that have abilities that fit more as support or healers," I explained calmly, finding it relieving that for once the umpteenth individual with an unexpected connection to DIO wasn't an enemy I had to either defeat or kill.

From what Derek was more than happy to provide, he was the furthest thing from a bad guy. He had a family made by a wife, a daughter, and another child that was meant to come in a couple of months from now. His ranch in Montana was his steady source of income, but he had taken the chance of wandering around the United States the moment he 'discovered' his unique gun. The pistol had homing bullets, cementing even more my beliefs that it was indeed **｢****Emperor****｣**.

After spending years 'doing an honest and just work', he just decided to wander off to see the East Coast for some time and… ended up in Worcester when he heard a couple of criminals had been spotted moving in the city. One thing led to another, and now the man had decided to tag along in this adventure.

When asked why, he replied like this:

"Why would I say no to helping a gal that was kidnapped by one of them corrupt politicians? I bet my good teeth that the man's soul is darker than tar itself, and I ain't planning to ignore this problem!"

He was genuine about his responses. Not only I could tell from the way he replied that he meant everything he was saying, but I could sense he was being particularly calm about it all. Too calm for being a liar, and… that was more than enough for me to actually trust the man's intentions of joining our cause.

"Still, I don't understand why these dumbasses decided to stalk and hunt the kid," Derek asked, sounding genuinely confused. "Is it because of the strange talking critter?"

"_My name is Zephy_."

"Yeah- Uh..."

The man had yet to recover from the fact there was literally an animal that could talk and was particularly eloquent when he wanted.

"That is one of the reasons, yes. But it's mostly because the boy's family is quite important in New York."

"Oh, so the little fella is rich too?" The gunslinger inquired teasingly and I sighed at the way he was making it sound.

"I would say his family is rich, but not the boy."

"Heh, fair enough-"

"Why were you praying back in the church?" Bloody interrupted flatly, his eyes displaying a degree of irritation at the man belittling him like that.

"Oh? You saw, didn't ya?" The cowboy muttered surprised, soon sighing calmly and nodded. "I mean, I guess I could tell ya this… but ya have to tell me what's your name."

…

"My name is Bloody."

"Yeah, sure thing, kiddo."

"It's my name."

"What kind of parent would name a kid with that?"

…

…

"Don't tell me he actually is called-"

"Didn't you promise him something if he told you his name?" I interrupted this awkward scene before it would've taken a more unpleasant turn than this one.

The cowboy groaned. "Sure, but I wanna hear more about your story, little fella. I can tell there is something shifty about it."

The young blond didn't reply to that, but it didn't matter much to Derek as he soon started to explain some more about his background.

"I was a soldier before settling down in my hometown. Part of the cavalry dispatched to handle the few wars in our country. The last ones I believe since most of our… enemies were already weak and close to extinction after years of fighting them at each corner."

"Wars? Here in America?" The boy asked with a confused tone. "That's absurd, no nation has managed to attack the mainland in years now."

"That's because the enemy wasn't part of a known nation," Derek remarked. "They came from within, and, for as much as it's worth, they had some fair points to motivate their interests to fight us. We just had to fight them back as a result."

The young Valentine was confused by this description, failing to grasp the implicit mention to native Americans and how the cowboy was mentioning the last wars meant to free the North American regions from any hostile tribe that wasn't willing to give away their lands to the government in Washington DC. A black page in American history, but one that I couldn't do much about except remember and… never forget.

"Many died, some were from our ranks, others were from theirs. I lost friends in these crazy times, most of them leaving behind people that they had wanted to return home to live with. Parents, children, wives, siblings, and even other friends that waited with determination their safe returns," The man continued. "I cherish the memory of our time spent together in those nasty conflicts, and live by the hope that their souls have found rest after these scary situations."

"So you… only remember them?"

"It ain't just remembering. Their memories are part of what they have left before leaving. I would sometimes check on those they have failed to return to, people that are strong enough to brave the pain and live by their emotions," Derek answered with a nod. "Even I changed through their legacies. I never liked going to Church even for Sunday's service. I thought it was a boring instance that tended to just tire me up and leave me prone to fall asleep. Then I learned that some rightful praying is right when it comes to remembering them again, this time to bless them with a stay in Heaven after what they had to go through."

"I… I think I understand." The young Valentine answered quietly. "I suppose this is… to fight for a country."

"That and much more. We fought for the people, for our rights, for our destiny, and by order. The war was still brutal, but it wasn't one that spared any of the sides from suffering casualties. We all bleed red by the end of the day," The cowboy added with a serious tone, his stare soon turning right at me. "Which is why I have to ask this, Mr. Dio. I hope you don't mind if I ask you a couple of simple questions."

I doubted any was really simple, but I decided to check what the man was interested to ask me now that he was mostly done with Bloody.

"Hmm?"

"Do ya think war can be permanently removed from life itself? That perhaps I can live to see that day happen and finally breathe a relieved sigh?"

"If I have to be really honest… no, I don't think you will be alive when true peace is achieved," I replied truthfully. "War will take more than a lifetime wasted against it to be genuinely beaten as a terrible practice. It can be done in my opinion, but I fail to see this actually happen anytime soon."

"Heh, not a loss in my book," He admitted mirthfully, trying to hide away the simple hint of sadness at his wish being realized just in half. "I know someone from my family will see it. That they will be happy and… finally drop the whole quirky nature of the Horse family. Ranchers for life sounds boring but… it ain't a job that is killed as easily as being a protector of sorts."

"I'm sure that will happen. I can vouch for that."

"Ha, you better not be promising something you ain't planning to go through with, Mr. Dio. Or I might find it quite… irritating to digest," Derek remarked and I calmly nodded.

"Ending war is already part of my dreams, and I don't plan to allow this to endanger people's lives for the sake of some rich greedy fool aiming to make business out of conflicts," I pledged without restraint. "I can promise on my very life."

The conversation turned calmer after that serious promise, and with that I soon found myself falling asleep once again as I saw even the cowboy catch some rest by how late in the night it was. The sky was slowly lightening up, but it was still too early for the sun to truly emerge. Closing my eyes, I allowed myself some sleep as I knew tomorrow was going to be a tough one.

While the train had been fixed, the workers had brought up how they had made plans to make a quick stop in Hartford to fully check if the train's engine was ready to go through the other half of the trip. So that meant jumping off the vehicle, checking around and hopefully making it back to the repaired train before it moved away without us and without anyone stalking us.

But as I fell in my deepest slumber, I felt my mind once more embroiled in another of these strange dreams. A dream that was so absurd, yet so certain- so pure and so corrupt.

_**And in this dream, I saw the twelve orbs now standing within twelve figures. Their voices and appearances unknown to me as I merely watched, understanding that something big was going to happen once this reunion was over. Something I felt so uneasy to even face from afar…**_

* * *

**AN**

**Derek Horse is here and… he is not a prick like his descendant, Hol. I was planning to add already some bizarre enemies but then I realized how it would be too sudden and quite off with the current narration. They are planned to come next chapter and… those will be another hint to whom Kate really is.**

**And now… Omake time!**

* * *

**Omake 18: The Gate and The Key (1)**

* * *

Boston was an interesting crossroad that led to many different options. Either you go south and trail down to the modern cities of the east coast, or you actually explore the chance of studying the mysterious secrets that waited right on the opposite side.

Alone and mostly unnerved as I decided to take this little trip on my own, I was still unsure how much interest I really needed to put in rumors but… I knew that this place was meant to channel all kinds of supernatural events of this era.

Salem was the city that was known to have been the location of horrible affairs back during the early years of the Thirteen Colonies. People were killed by zealous puritans that still believed in witches and warlocks, all for the sake of eliminating rivals, individuals they were jealous of, or even disposing of people from different races.

The case I was mostly interested in was the one that actually saw me taking this sudden trip. Abigail Williams was the principal element that led to major controversies over the superstitious personality of the old leadership in Massachusetts, with the killing of an innocent child to compensate for a lack of understanding over illnesses that were known to influence people to behave incoherently or even say things that they weren't used to.

The trials were the example of true incompetence as religion shattered any semblance of legal understanding of these claims, endlessly bringing innocents to death's door for the sake of satisfying an extremist view of God's teachings.

But what brought me here wasn't history itself, rather I was intrigued by a couple of rumors that had been spreading around for about a couple months now and… that had reached my ears with enough substance to make me fascinated over the chances of a particular individual to be there.

Leaving the carriage I had paid to take me to the city, I didn't waste time to pull to me the bag filled with the equipment needed to scan for any supernatural entities lingering on the cursed grounds. A blonde child had been sighted in the area where the Williams household once existed, and I knew that this was just a hint to something interesting and… bad.

I wasn't going to believe it until I was there myself to verify these rumors, but if this was indeed a manifestation of the 'naughty girl' and the Outer God, then I was going to have a tough time suppressing the entity on my own. Not that there was anyone else that could have handled the task, but I wasn't completely sure of my skills enough to seal away the lovecraftian monster alone.

With no carriages willing to take anyone near these frightening territories, I was left at my own devices as I made by way there by foot. The place was distant, but I hardly got tired by going through that kind of distance through a calm stroll in the woods. Animals knew to not mess with me, especially with Hamon creating a slight hint of danger to their instincts that overrode any attempt to attack me in hunger or maliciousness.

It was about the time I got close enough for my eyes to see the area I was supposed to scan that I finally felt something unpleasant. A single twist by my chest, a familiar pull that intensified the more steps I took towards my destination.

My worries were soon confirmed by this very emotion. Abby had to be there and… with her, the Outer God that used her as its Avatar. It would explain the pull and why I was affected this much by it since the deity was known to be tied to Space and Time itself.

I had faced many opponents that could hardly be considered 'easy bosses' to fight on my own, coming close to die more than once for the sake to either solve a crisis, save someone, or even just defending myself. But facing a deity that was known to be Chtulhu's grandpa? That was bound to become problematic. Especially when its avatar was a little girl.

Eventually I arrived at a stopping point where the pressure was enough to make me materialize my stand out of instinct. I was being watched by this point, but I couldn't exactly pinpoint where my peeping tom was looking at me from.

It took just a couple of minutes for footsteps to be caught breaking through the silence surrounding me and I turned to stare at the direction where those were coming from. A girl, she was a young blonde with blue eyes and… a curious purple dress. Its sleeves were longer than the child's arms as those held a normal teddy bear, and she was also wearing multiple yellow and violet bows on her hair, just below her simple hat.

"Who are you?" Abigail Williams asked blankly, her eyes stopping at my orange orbs. I blinked, turning to face her completely.

"I'm Dio Joestar, and I came here to seek answers to my questions."

The blonde stared in complete silence for a while and then… she blinked.

"This isn't a place of words. This is a resting ground."

"Of those that have perished through injustice," I pointed out.

"God has already judged their souls. This claim has long been resolved."

"Not to official sources," I lamented quietly. "But through a deity that has no right to judge any souls."

…

"You don't believe in God?" Abby asked with a perplexed tone, drawing a frown out of me at the sudden query.

_She is trying to judge me. How foolish!_

"I believe in the Heavens as the only great destiny for anyone to pursue," I replied without hesitation. "I will never allow a deity that isn't of this domain to come and try to replace this vision of mine."

Her eyes widened and… I saw something form by her forehead. A keyhole- I braced myself as I prepared to act the moment the entity showed just a sign of interest within this encounter.

"You depict God himself as a deity devoid of authority? Are you… naughty?"

"I'm only committed to a sense of justice that doesn't belong to a deity that isn't part of our original world," I rebuffed dryly. "Why should I, Dio, submit my will or the will of others to Sut-Typhon of all Gods from the Outer Reality?"

The mention of the name, it got a surprised look out of Abigail and… then I saw it. A single purple eye peering through the opening within the girl's head and… the Outer Reality. A chill went down my spine, but I didn't allow it to settle as I swiftly rushed toward her, my Stand already acting as I enabled its first power on the exposed entity.

"**｢****ACT 2****｣****!"**

The shout triggered the Time-Freeze over the God, its eye widening before stopping in that shaken form as I continued to run towards the confused girl. Abby's body went stiff as she realized her 'God' wasn't moving to stop me, her legs trembling as I was over her and… slammed a pair of bandaids over the keyhole on her forehead, applying a surplus of Hamon to try and cut off the entity away from her mind.

Her eyes widened, and I saw the blue clash with some purple as the entity tried to keep hold of its avatar. I kept her hugged close, pushing as much Hamon I could to cleanse her body and… she lessened her tension. A sob cracked the lack of a major reaction, with her trembling arm wrapping carefully around my neck.

"I-I'm not a good girl. L-Let go- I'm bad- I'm not good."

"You're not bad, Abigail," I muttered calmly. "I heard of your tale, the truth about it, and I judge you in my objective opinion as a victim. The victim of a system I've pledged to fight to protect those poor unfortunate like yours."

I squeezed her closer, allowing her to cry some more onto my chest and let all the sorrow out.

"From now on… I will take responsibility in not allowing you to suffer ever again. It's a pledge of justice and… correctness to those I fight for."

I lifted her up, and she quietly wrapped her legs around my waist.

Once we were back in town, many would look in our direction, surprised by the fact I was back with someone with me. Still, none complained as, from a closer look, it just looked like a big brother holding his little sister like this since she had fallen asleep. A suave smile rested on Abby's smile and she remained asleep through the train trip back to Boston.

_**Now I had to explain to Robert how from a supernatural case I had planned to investigate, I returned with a girl with a strange bandaid on her head and… a clear attachment to me as she started to cling around the very moment she woke up.**_

* * *

**AN**

**A little while ago, I mentioned how I was going to bring another adorable companion to Dio that could match up Jackie in terms of cuteness. Here is the little Foreigner-Class that was cursed to be the representation of Cthulhu's grandpa himself.**


	28. Ambizione (4)

**DISCLAIMER**

**The following is a fan-based**

**FICTION**

**All Parts of the JJBA are all owned by Hirohiko Araki. **

**Please Support the Official Release!**

* * *

**Capitolo Secondo: Ambizione (4)**

* * *

The stop at Hartford was uneventful. Much to my relief, I was correct in assuming no attacks had been planned when we had to wait for the workers to be done with the final fixing of the train's engine, thus sparing us another encounter this soon. Still, as we resumed our journey for our last stop, New York City, I was besieged by a particular request coming from the young Valentine.

"You want to learn how to fight?" I questioned with a fascinated tone. Bloody nodded back at me as he tried to convince me of this matter with a few compelling arguments.

"Until now I had to rely either on you or Zephy, now there is also Mr. Horse-"

"Derek is fine, boyo," The cowboy rebuked with a sigh. "But continue, don't let me stop ya."

The young blond nodded. "I don't want to be a burden and a deadweight. I wish to… be able to defend myself."

"And you think I can give you something that can have you in fighting conditions?"

"I believe you have. Either something weak but still capable of making the difference… or even that thing, I think you called it-"

"_Stand,_" Zephy helped with a calm hum. "_But I believe that isn't up to Dio to 'give'._"

"As I've mentioned, Stands are unlocked through the understanding of your own soul. While I was aided in the process of gaining mine, most of the procedure has to come from you. You first have to be ready to use one before trying to call it out to aid you."

"So… no Stands?"

"Not until you're ready to call it forth by yourself," I confirmed. "As Zephy said, this is well-beyond my capacities right now." 'For now'.

"But what else? Surely there is something I can try to use and give my support in fights?"

Just as he said that, Derek huffed at the question, his attention still aimed at the nearest window as he looked at the fast-moving ground with a bored look.

"Bah, as far as I'm concerned, I would have been more than happy to teach you how to use a gun," The man pointed out. "But right now I have none on me beyond my 'Stand'. Also, we're in a restricted place, not much I can work in this circumstance."

Bloody kept on deflating at the stacking refusals, and I decided to give a legitimate thought on the matter since I found his points genuinely correct for the most part. While it was clear he was just growing upset with the fact his capacity to provide assistance was close to zero when it came to fighting any threats, their roster of options was incredibly limited. The only one I could think up of was… ironic. But I worried that it could literally explode in his face if I didn't give him enough lessons on the basics.

The basics were the most important considering how deadly of a tool the Spin is.

Still, I decided to concede that, despite my worries, there was going to come a point where the young man would need to make his own display of truthfulness and… that moment was going to require some power to back him beyond his capacity to speak up his heart and soul. The more I struggled about it, the more it became evident to me that it was the best choice right now.

"I believe I have something that you might be able to use," I admitted with a careful voice, gaining the fellow blond's attention. "But I want you to promise me that you are going to listen attentively to my words. Because this ability isn't one that a user can utilize without some serious commitment to it."

The boy nodded, and soon enough I showed him the main element he was going to work with. He stared at the object I had gotten out of my jacket's pouch and I was now holding out for him to reach on my open palm.

A small steel ball that I had commissioned from a specialized blacksmith. The man was confused at first by the precise requirements behind the object itself, but he seemed more than happy to do little hard work in creating thousands of those at a high price. I could tell the man at the time was curious of why a young man would've wanted this kind of thing, but he seemed to mind his own business when I said it wasn't open for discussion.

I had way more than I would ever need during my stay here in the states, but I saw it fit to come here even more prepared than usual to avoid any odd escalations. Pucci's words just… had me nervously tip-toeing with how fate was handling my current presence. Hopefully it was just paranoia speaking, but I knew that this entire ordeal I was busy with was just the beginning of something… bad.

"What is… that?"

"A steel ball," I curtly replied, getting an amused snort from Derek and a sigh out of Zephy. Bloody instead frowned as my answer did little to solve his confusion, so I started explaining some more.

"This is what you will be working on during this training. It's expendable since I've an endless amount of those on me, but I would prefer that for this first step you make sure to not break it," I commented with a calm voice. "Your first task shall be to try and active the power… and understand how to turn it off."

"What kind of… power?"

"It's one I had yet to use against our enemies since I tackled all threats in a direct way, but I believe it will work well since you're not planning to take on any opponent in close quarters," I answered with a nod, pulling out another steel ball for an introduction. "It's called 'The Spin', and the basis behind it is… well, a spin."

More confusion washed over his face, but before the boy had the chance to ask what I was saying, his eyes lowered down as I began spinning the sphere. Surprise and then shock replaced uncertainty, with his jaws dropping low at the absolutely incredible phenomenon unfolding before his eyes.

"Holy… Jesus," A certain cowboy muttered in pure surprise, his wide eyes now aimed attentively at the incredible sight. I had to lessen down the light created by the spin so that it wouldn't have drawn any attention from anyone nearby, but the result still got the duo to gawk at the result… while Zephy just-

"_That's- That's impressive._"

I frowned at that reaction, really confused by the fact the critter was baffled by what I had just done. Until now he had kept a degree of calm over the oddity that were my unique skills, yet now he was having such a different reaction before the Spin. Really interesting, but I decided to inquire about this now since I had to keep utmost caution while handling the Spin with a new user.

"The Spin is a long-lost technique that was invented by a family in Italy. It's functions are… both offensive and defensive in nature," I began explaining. "I learned it when I was around your age through an old book in my family's library."

"How does it… work?" Bloody asked with child-like wonder exuding from his voice, a degree of awe dripping from his words.

"It's a battery. A battery for a kind of energy nobody has yet to find an end to and… that it can't be described beyond 'Spinning Energy'. The main focus of this technique is to control said energy and use it either to attack enemies or to heal wounded people."

"Sounds… like a lot. Does it have a limit or something?" Derek pressed with a concerned look.

"It does… at least for those that have started using it," I confirmed with a nod. "You see, there are three known states a User can bring the Spin in, starting from a base one, which is the one that comes when it's used the first few times."

"But what does it do?"

I sighed at the impatience of the young Valentine, but, then again, I knew I had introduced to him what was going to be pretty much his personal line of defense against any threats. So I prepared to deliver a big explanation and… I went into detail.

The boy was listening, raptly so, but so were the other two members of our group. It was mostly Bloody that asked about the extent of the steps, the phases, and the limitations of such ability. The only moment I decided to be rather curt was around the final take of the Spin, being rather unsure if telling him right now about the full might of the Gold Spin was a good idea. A goodhearted person he might sound right now, but there was a strong tendency for the members of the Valentine family to grow greedy of unlocking their full potential. Akin to the original Dio, but instead of selfishness driving that pursuit, it was a sense of absolute devotion to the country.

I spared a few looks at Zephy, the creature deciding against speaking during the lecture and the follow up attempts of the young blond to get through the first bumps of getting the Spin happening. The Cowboy sitting beside the boy was also quiet, but would mutter some exclamation at the incredibly insane situation unfolding before his eyes. While I was certain he wasn't superstitious, I didn't rule out the chances of him growing distrustful over the mysterious sight unfolding more than once.

"I don't remember you ever mentioning that you had a fiance back home," Bloody pointed out and I blinked in surprise when I realized I really didn't.

I was lost in the conversation when Hannah came up in the conversation, and I distractedly brought her up a lot when explaining how to adapt the spinning move to optimal levels since she was the one that laid down the foundation of that improvement.

"I suppose I didn't see a reason to bring this up. Apologies if that comes as a surprise."

"Never thought of you as a lad that had already settled, Mr. Joestar," Derek teased. "I suppose the lady got you really hooked to have you planning to give her a ring."

I frowned as I didn't recall ever bringing up that to the conversation.

"How do you-"

"I can tell when someone is planning the wedding with a fine gal," The cheeky cowboy interrupted. "I still remember when my lovely wife had me bewitched with her looks and mannerism. It was some damn strong magic, and, in the end, I never came to regret asking her parents for her hand."

"So you just know when someone is going to marry because… you are already married?" I asked confused, the emotion mirrored by Bloody as we failed to make sense of that reasoning.

"Well, it's more of a hunch. I just can tell when someone is speaking about a soon-to-be bride or groom by the way they address them. I can relate to them sometimes, so it's particularly easy for me to pick some attitudes on the spot."

…

"I guess that's a skill to be wary about, Mr. Horse."

"Eh Eh! Don't you get too formal with me, Dio." He giddily rebuked. "There is no need to be shy- if you need any advice, you can ask me!"

I was certainly not going to ask any advice to someone that planned to poke fun at my love life. Still, the curious change of subject didn't stop there as I was thrown some questions from Bloody. Of course this wasn't anything that went beyond the simple and non-teasing interest of the boy, like asking how Hannah looked like, and how strong she was compared to me.

All in all, I was relieved that it didn't go in a weird direction as I had expected. Or at least in most of the queries I had to handle. There was one that got me pausing as I narrowed my eyes in surprise at Zephy, the critter giving quite the curious question.

"_From my understanding, she is older than you. Does that mean that you are… attracted to older women?_"

I opened my mouth, but I had to pause at the awkwardness of that sudden turn of events. I had never pondered too much about the matter, always blaming any hints of attraction for 'older women' being tied to the fact my mind-soul was as old as Hannah by the end of the day. It was just a problem with the… younger body that made for quite the uneasy circumstances when the age difference was brought up in conversations.

"I would say that… I don't really mind if a woman I like or love is younger or older than me. Still, I strongly believe in the fact I would never approach a woman that is younger than eighteen."

"_Fair enough_," He commented with a nod, a strange smile lingering on his face for some time.

After a while I had grown particularly hopeful that for now we were spared by any attacks from anyone. But the very moment I thought of this, I was forced to sigh tiredly when I heard a woman scream coming from the wagon after ours. Soon after, the screams started to pile up, and my annoyance turned in worry as I could tell there was something horrible unfolding nearby. People started to grow nervous as they murmured all over what was going on. I stood up, confused that none of the workers in the train had rushed to see what was going on.

"I will check what is going on," I muttered to the rest of the group. "Derek, keep an eye out for anything suspicious happening in the wagon."

The cowboy tipped his hat and nodded, his hand already grasping at the newly-materialized **｢****Emperor****｣**. I began making my way towards the closed door. Some of the men and women still sitting spared me fascinated looks as I took the initiative to go and see what was happening and what was causing this many screams to come from the other wagons behind ours.

I felt pressure building up, and while I knew the staring was partly influencing this, I could tell something wrong was happening in there and… that I needed to be careful. My Stand was already close to materializing as I reached for the handle and, as I pushed the door aside, I stepped outside.

_**A surprise waited just for me.**_

* * *

The moment I opened the door and stepped out of the wagon's indoors, I felt the pressure that had been building up until that moment vanish right as I noticed there was no one in there to 'trouble' me into feeling in danger. While this was good news in a normal circumstance, I knew well enough that this was nothing to be happy about.

The build up had felt way too real for it to vanish so suddenly in such a natural fashion. Unless this change wasn't caused by natural means. So I looked around, pumping Hamon through my body to try and heighten my senses to perceive anything I was missing in the immediate check and… I felt it. Or rather, _I didn't._

There was no life I could feel beyond our wagon. In fact, I could see a couple drained corpses being illuminated by the small lights from the light bulbs spread all inside the wagon. Confusion roused as I knew that there was only a creature I knew capable of this kind of thing and… it couldn't be. At first I ruled this out as an absurd thought since it was daytime, but only now I realized that there was something missing in that moment. No sunlight, the sun was clouded by some dark clouds that suggested some heavy raining to happen quite soon.

I had been so distracted with the previous conversation that I hadn't noticed this detail. But there was something I still noticed as I looked some more. I felt strange unnatural gusts of air coming towards me from both my left and right side. While I took care of one, **｢****ACT 2****｣ **swiftly caught the rest of the projectiles trying to hit me.

I managed to use the Ripple to increase my skin's durability, deflecting the sharp blades in time and… taking a moment to understand that these small things weren't normal daggers. Kunais, my Stand revealed that it had caught some shurikens- those were common weapons for a Ninja.

…

What?

Instead of lingering too long, I tilted the blades and allowed my Stand's power to have them return to the sender with extra speed. I saw the trajectory and I decided to follow up the path back to the one that dared to ambush me. I jumped up to the rooftop and… he was there.

The attacker backed away in surprise as I advanced towards him. Wearing a full black attire that was common for ninjas, instead of removing the blades still stuck on his flesh, the individual merely took his tanto out from its wooden sheath. Looking back at the horrible scene I had just witnessed and seeing the minimal reaction to the pain I had inflicted to the shinobi.

A vampire. A vampire ninja at that.

…

I really wanted to make a joke about the insanity of this sudden slap on the cheek, but I was more frustrated by the fact that if those were here… then someone had to have uncovered one of the Stone Masks that were hidden together with Santana.

_But how and why? Could this be tied to the unknown element mentioned by Pucci?_

"Gomenasai, Joestar-san," The man muttered quietly. "But the child has to die."

I scowled. "Petty words for a dead man. You should have known better than challenging me on my own."

"While you are considered our target, the Renkai Clan's priority still lies on ending Valentine-kun."

'Our'. There were more than just one of them around. And from the looks of it, the bastard was trying to delay me from assisting the others in the wagon.

"First, if you are going to use Engrish in this fight, be respectful and keep silent. It just… irks me how someone wants to add this much Japanese when I can tell you're versed in normal English," I lamented dryly. "Second, you underestimated me, and I shall have you heavily pay for killing so many innocents."

His guard was up and ready for any assault of mine. Sadly for the man, his life was over the moment he allowed me to have a clear sight on himself. One moment he was standing to make a last stand, the other his body forcibly 'went back in time' and jumped right where I was and… where my Hamon-infused punch was ready to strike. His unpreparation was what screwed with him in the end, and I didn't indulge in extra commentary as I pumped his undead body with the Ripple. The energy tore through him, shredding him out of existence. The sound of gunshots drew my attention back on the seriousness of the situation.

The vampirized Shinobis had already infiltrated the wagon, and I had just little time to move and get back inside before the situation turned ugly. While I trusted Derek to make some good defense with **｢****Emperor****｣**, I knew well enough that his Stand was meant to fight in enclosed spaces like the one he was currently confined in. The screams coming from the unexpected witnesses of this fight were prompting me to be hasty with my re-entry. I bolted down the rooftop and back from the entrance of the wagon I had left from.

The sight I was presented when I stepped back inside was quite nerve-wracking. Zephy was finally showing an interesting ability as his tail turned in a sharp round blade that decapitated the closest shinobi and, close behind, the cowboy that had until that moment held well against the first assault was clutching his now bleeding arm, his good hand paralyzed from being able to operate his Stand.

Two other Shinobis were approaching from the side the opposite of mine, and I rushed to intercept them as the decapitated one tried to stand up and use the surprise of his 'rise' to attack the critter. Bloody was stunned by the suddenness of everything, but he seemed to recover from his panic when he saw me punching the closest ninja away and slamming a foot on the detached head of the vampirized shinobi still on the ground.

The remaining survivor, a kunoichi, backed away and pulled one of the women nearby as her hostage. I sighed at the situation and made a step towards her despite the fact she was holding her tanto close to her terrified lady's throat. Sadly for her, I had a plan already cooked for the occasion.

"Your next line shall be: "I wish to apologize for being such a foolish individual, and I will let go of this poor innocent maiden."

"...What?" She asked in return, confused by what I had just said. While I knew I didn't have it in myself to pull a Joseph in that situation, I had the capacity to still use this 'failure' for a distraction nonetheless. So with her mind taken away from the seriousness of the situation, I allowed **｢****ACT 2****｣** to deliver a powerful hamon-coated karate chop through the head of the kunoichi. The female vampire didn't have enough to say that she was destroyed by the instantaneous effects of the Ripple.

The young woman screamed as she fell on her knees, now released from her captor. Breathing irregularly as she tried to calm down, she seemed tense when I calmly approached her and crouched down. I didn't say anything, merely offering her a hand as I led her up back to her seat.

I stood up, looking around as I saw everyone was staring back at me. They expected answers to the madness they were subjected to, and while this would've made me particularly worried a few years ago, I had the upper ground when it came with excuses. Especially after years of sharpening my capacity of being a good liar.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm sorry that you have been forced to see this macabre scene unfold before your own eyes, and I wish to extend my humble apologies," I started to mutter, acting really remorseful in that moment. "My name is Abraham van Hellsing, I'm a Dutch Doctor that is specialized in hunting horrible creatures that have tried to cross the pond in an effort to find fertile hunting grounds here in the new continent. My presence here was dictated by a holy mission to defeat all monstrous beings that hail Hell and shun God's own creatures."

The murmuring increased, and I could see that my act was working from the understanding I could spot on everyone's face at my words. Still, I wasn't done yet since my objective wasn't just to excuse myself of what had just happened with a fake identity.

"Right now, I have to sadly request you all to solemnly swear that you will never mention what happened here today. The reason why this sadden me so much considering that everyone would be more than happy to forget of this dreadful day is that people have died today because of vampires hailing from a coven that aimed to hurt the good American people."

"Y-You mean that we shouldn't say anything about dead people? How- How could we-"

"Only that you are unaware of the natural causes of their death. I understand the horror of this request, but mine isn't a request built on stupidity, but one born from concern of the panic this would cause to the rest of the American people. The monsters fester in the fears of humans, and by fueling the fright, you would give them the chance to kill even more," I replied with a committed tone, nodding at the furious man that had tried to rebuke my previous comments. "Which is why I can promise you all here and now, in my good name, that the foul monster behind this attack shall be destroyed at once the moment I shall find it!"

More murmuring, but I saw some nods… and then everyone was nodding. I felt my breath caught up by how tense the entire situation was. While I had some experience in convincing people through some half-lies, I was really pulling a massive stretch with that move. Despite that, I was relieved when I saw general acceptance of my request and soon my group was mostly left alone.

"So… _You're now this 'Van Hellsing'?_"

"It's a character I've heard about from an Irish writer I had the chance of meeting last year," I explained to Zephy and the others. "He is going to have an important role in one of his upcoming works and… I believe I should heal your wounds, Derek."

"What? No… it's not like I'm dying here."

I sighed. "I'm sorry I ignored the problem for that long, but I had to come up with an excuse for us to not be hounded by the police and reporters."

"Heh, fair but… fix me up now!"

I leaned towards him, grasping his arm and allowing my Hamon to increase his recovery rate. The injuries weren't even as grave as he was trying to make those appear and the healing process was over after just a single minute. He checked through the holes in his shirt, sighing in relief as there wasn't even a visible scar for him to notice from his previous wounds.

"Call me 'lucky', but I believe you spared me losing a limb about it."

"You're exaggerating by a fair lot, Mr. Horse."

The cowboy groaned. "Can you stop with the formal stuff?!"

Before I could say something about it, I found myself cut by someone else speaking.

"D-Dio," Bloody finally spoke up, drawing my attention as I realized that he had been trying to talk to me since I sat down by the table.

"Yes, young Valentine?"

"W-What just happened? Who were these people and… how did you do that?"

"_I believe I should be the one answering the first two questions,_" Zephy quipped quietly, his calm lessened by the topic he was trying to convey some words about. "_We were attacked by people that are enemies of mine and Kate. The Renkai Clan was… a dreadful group that had for centuries tried to steal the Shin-Aki from Kate's clan. And… from the looks of it, they had given up their souls to something malicious from the way they acted._"

"I'm fairly certain that they were turned into vampires, my act wasn't completely wrong about that," I intervened with a serious tone. "And while this might not sound much considering the presence of malicious beings, the problem is that the only way right now to become a vampire right now shouldn't be known to anyone but two people."

"And who these fellas are?" Derek asked the big question and I sighed.

"I am one of them. The other one is… an ally of mine, but I strongly doubt he is behind all of this. I knew he had retired to live in Italy with his family after the final events about the Stone Mask," I answered with a sigh. For a moment, my mind brought up when I received a letter from Will himself, the man having decided to stop waging a war for revenge after making sure that all known Stone Masks had been destroyed, leaving the task to other Ripple Users as his burden as a father that was going to become a grandfather began turning bigger than he wanted to risk his life for.

I accepted his decision, and I was surprised he actually 'thanked' me for having dealt with the Mask on my own. He also apologized about what happened years ago with Hannah, but I would've preferred for him to turn the apology to the woman herself instead of me. And despite this memory further cementing the fact he wasn't tied to all of this… I was floored by the fact I couldn't think of anyone knowing of where the Stone Masks were in the American continent.

There was no way they were discovered by accident. The traps in the resting ground were meant to kill anything human with ease, sparing none from their fierce brutality. Even large quantities of explorers would have perished against the first few traps in there.

"_So you know how it could be possible… but not who is behind this situation?_"

"I know that they were hired to kill Bloody. And I know they are enemies to you and your owner," I answered truthfully. "But right now… I don't know who could be behind this all."

The troublesome development had us enjoying the few peaceful hours remaining before our arrival to our destination. We were tense, now worried that another attack could happen and for the chances of this one actually being stronger than before. But much to my relief, we finally reached the Big Apple without having to be subjected to any other ambushes.

We stepped off the train with a quiet but confident posture, swiftly dodging the people that were rushing to either check the train or board it, and we barely heard the screams of those that found out what happened to a few wagons once full of innocents.

I knew at this point, that the stakes were much higher than I had expected. And I knew that this Senator Philips had somehow gained control of the Stone Mask…

_**But who would be so insane to do this? Who?**_

* * *

**AN**

**Some important words:**

**1) I've offered another clue about Kate, but I remind you all again that her 'cameo' here is just her and Zephy, none of the characters from the universe she hails from (which is still tied to this one, but it will not be relevant to the main plot of Absolute Divinity). Why do I need to repeat this so much? I know people will be stunned by who I picked up as a companion for a 'crusade' across the States;**

**2) Because yes, ARC 2 is going to be like Part 3 but in the USA, a century or so earlier, and with a mostly new cast of misfits making their way to defeat the real baddie. So keep in mind that this first part of 'Saving Kate' is the intro of the ARC since it will be way longer than ARC 1;**

**3) Vampire Ninja, I don't believe Araki has ever tried to dabble in that amount of bizarre. Am I transcending or degrading my soul at this point? (This is a joke question for anyone missing the sarcasm);**

**...ZA OMAKE!**

* * *

**Omake 19: Tender Affection (1)**

* * *

Just as I concluded those musings, I felt the carriage slowing down its pace and then… it came to a pause.

My thoughts were smoothly drowned as I let my own state of masterful composure, born from experience and practice, take over the expressions of my new face as I prepared for quite the encounter.

I didn't need to create issues with the one waiting just outside the vehicle, I didn't certainly need to spark the Dio-Joestars rivalry that would see me failing horribly and painfully.

I was too attached to life to consider falling onto the overly-childish attitude displayed by the younger Dio and his self-destructive anger toward rich people.

But I couldn't certainly behave too 'kindly' with the fellow, I needed to keep myself polite and 'friendly' before the gullible young man that was Jonathan Joestar.

So I slowly stood up from my seat, ignoring my aching legs as I took hold of my baggage with both of my hands, and I moved to leave the limited place.

The door opened calmly, part of my giddy self almost _demanding_ to try and pull off the same dramatic stunt the blond achieved in Canon… but I wasn't in the general mood to fail epicly thanks to my uncoordinated sense of mind-body.

While my body had changed, my mind had remained untouched and… still prone to commit quite the awkward physical reactions when given the unique opportunities.

Descending from the small height between the carriage's room and the floor, I closed the door behind me and… I turned to see a happy-looking woman standing right there, waiting for me. A frown adorned my face as I tried to make sense of who I was looking at. This wasn't Jonathan Joestar… yet she was still familiar to me. At least through the series itself.

It took me a moment to recognize her. She was a brunette with her hair combed in a short manner, her warm chocolate-shaded eyes regarded me with motherly affection and curiosity. The lovely creature was wearing a simple suave yellow pink dress. Her smile was shining in a way I had rarely seen in a person, and I could help but urge myself to not gawk at her beauty.

This was… Mary Joestar. This was Jonathan's mother and George's wife.

…

What is going on here?

"Why hello!" She greeted me with a gorgeous voice, my eyes having to widen a fraction more as she regarded me with such warmth.

Like seriously, why is she here? Shouldn't she have died in that carriage accident ages ago? Shouldn't her lack in the series be the main motivation that drove George to take in Dio? If she was here, why was I summoned to this mansion?

"You must be Dio Brando, a pleasure to meet you," She continued with a caring tone. "I'm Mary Joestar."

Yep, that's her but… why do I feel like I'm still missing something important?

Soon, an even more familiar individual leaned to the side, standing behind the kind woman. Dark-blue hair, a lighter-shade for the eyes… That was Jonathan.

"This is your brother, Jonathan," Mary introduced him to me, but paused as we both glanced on the other side. A pup moved closer, and I was surprised to notice how calmer Danny was in this universe compared to the original one. There was no doubt in my mind that this was indeed an alternative universe, and I wasn't sure this was a good thing or a bad one for me. "Oh! And Danny, our beloved dog."

Jonathan took initiative, shyly waving at me and I silently returned the gesture. My mind was just having a hard time wrapping up the entirety of the situation, and I couldn't exactly blame myself for keeping quiet until now with how absurd things were turning into. And before I could say anything about the matter, the woman offered her open palm, the one that had her wedding ring on.

_The one Dario Brando tried to steal in the original universe from her dead body._

"Well, come along, Dio. Your father is waiting inside."

It was at that very moment that I realized what I was actually missing out from the bigger picture. Brother, father… The reason why I was taken in wasn't to be used as a ward to be shown around like a trophy, a sign of kindness manifested through my presence here in the Joestar family.

No, I, Dio Brando, had been supposedly adopted in the Joestar family. And from the looks of it, it was Mary the one that had spearheaded this idea. Not that I didn't like the better disposition but… I was grasped by uncertainty. What if this 'improvement' was there to heighten a greater tragedy? What if the challenges before my path were going to be tougher to match up with this pleasant first step in this new life of mine?

"Y-Yes," I eventually answered, allowing her to grasp my hand as I had it sat on her palm. The softness of the glove mixed well with the comfy warmth coming from her pale skin. "Lady Joestar."

She giggled at my response, making me frown for a moment… but from the way Jonathan was eager to show sheepishness I could tell the 'joke' wasn't really one to begin with.

"Oh, please! Call me 'mother'," Mary corrected with a happy smile. "You're my son now after all."

…

I blinked, nodding at her as I failed to compute why I was having this much trouble with a woman of her caliber. Maybe it was because I didn't know much about her and her behavior was catching me off-guard, or maybe it was because her tender care reminded me so much of… my own mother.

Gulping nervously, I hoped nobody noticed that I was putting my whole being into not tearing apart as I felt overwhelmed by the situation. I expected a gritty reality… and I was blessed with motherly love.

"Y-Yes… mother."

Her smile widened, and I could tell that by saying that I had made her day. We soon started to walk towards the manor, and I felt my heart swell at how nicely my stay here at the manor has begun- no, how nicely my stay here at my new home has begun.

Yes, I, Dio, was feeling happy of how bright the future looked… and I was going to protect this at all costs!

* * *

**AN**

**Inspiration for this Omake came from ChloesImagination, but I saw it dubbed on HakyuDub channel. A really interesting take on this What If since I believe that Mary's presence would have actually curbed any hate-driven ambitions from Dio.**


	29. Ambizione (5)

**DISCLAIMER**

**The following is a fan-based**

**FICTION**

**All Parts of the JJBA are all owned by Hirohiko Araki. **

**Please Support the Official Release!**

* * *

**Capitolo Secondo: Ambizione (5)**

**Warning: Character Reveal. If with doubts, check AN.**

* * *

Our arrival at the Grand Central station was less than stellar. While the occupants of the train respected the words I had given to them about keeping to themselves about what happened during the trip, I really hadn't expected to find the station completely occupied by terrified citizens. Police officers and soldiers from the National Guard were running around to keep the entrances safe from… something.

I frowned, anxiety building up as I failed to make sense of the chaos surrounding us. It was only quick-thinking that got us to move away from the train's entrance, our current objective being finding a place where to carefully assess the situation we were in. Bloody kept close with Zephy, the boy more than happy of being pulled around if it meant not being devoured by the mob of people wandering around in an antsy.

Eventually we arrived in a spot in the upper floor, one considered to be 'riskier' by some leaving as it was the closest to the 'disaster' that was unfolding outside the building. I was still unsure what got people to panic this much, but I was incredibly tense. And I was ultimately floored when we approached one of the windows around and started to see what was going on.

Through the window, we could all see what was happening and why the people were so desperately seeking refuge here of all places. New York was burning. Or at least a good chunk of it was. For a moment my brain tried to rule this out as an unexpected and ahistorical fire that wasn't recorded in the textbooks I had studied from, but then I realized that the cause of the flames wasn't accidental or natural.

It was possibly magical. Especially when I could stare at large crowds of zombies moving in packs in an effort to breach the heavily defended perimeter that had been set up by the military. The guns, albeit ineffective in normal circumstances, were devastating the horde without any mercy. Cannons, machine guns, all heavy firepower within the local Arsenal was being deployed to defeat the undead threat.

And while it was doing a fine job in cases of defense, I doubted this strategy could be reverse-engineered for offensive purposes. I gritted my teeth at the unpleasant discovery, and I knew that we still had to go through that infested city if we wanted to put an end to this. It was still day, but clouds were covering the skies. Dark clouds at that which reminded me of some unpleasant individual I had more than surely killed years ago. While I knew Wang Chan was dead, the chances of the main responsible being tied to what was happening in town was undeniable. Maybe someone from this Renkai Clan was behind it? We still needed to move quickly.

The more we waited, the less chances the innocents here all over the city, holding onto the greater sections of the cities, were going to survive by the time the ammunition started to run out. But before that… I needed to do something. Something important for the circumstance.

"I need a moment. I will be back soon."

The rest of the group gave me confusing look, but they all nodded as I took my small bag with me to the nearest bathroom. The stench was unpleasant, but much to my surprise there was no one in there. I called myself lucky, and I took one of the covered corners in there to start changing with an outfit I hadn't been wearing for a long time now.

The old clothes that I had uniquely donned to face the situation at Windknight's Lot had been upgraded with the passing of time. Some efforts to improve the defense capacity had been tested and eventually integrated for the sake of offering greater protection at the least expense of my mobility. I also had tried to reach out the South American Market to try and recover enough Satiporoja Beetles to try and make the entire outfit in their fiber, but I was surprised to learn the region just wasn't capable of sustaining such a large investment just yet.

An annoying setback, but not one that truly left me unhappy since I still had more than enough to hold myself against my foes. Once I was done with that quick clothes-change, I returned to the team and I smiled as they all looked surprised at my current battle outfit. Hopefully, not because it looked so bizarre and absurd.

"You were hiding that in your luggage?" Derek inquired, sounding surprised.

I nodded. "It's something I've been working on for a couple of years now. I hope it's not too much."

"It's… amazing," Bloody said while gawking, Zephy sighing in amusement at the boy's reaction at my new clothes.

After making sure they were ready to go, I started laying out the battle plan in handling this absurd situation. Our destination, the massive manor that was owned by the Phillips family was deep within the city's heart, and so we had to face a non-negligible amount of zombies along the way. Such a feat would have been fine if I had been alone, but considering that none here except the white-furred critter could keep up with my speed, I knew that we needed to take a shortcut if we wanted to get there safely and ready for any major confrontations.

So I styled out a simple and blunt idea, which by all definitions was supposed to work if nothing bad happened. While the streets were completely invaded by the unending ranks of fiends, the sewers were going to be the place with the least amount of monsters in there. We just had to make sure that we didn't end up getting some of the patrolling mob of zombies to chase us there and breach into that safe passage to our destination.

Finding a spot where to leave proved particularly easy. The station was in far from optimal conditions, and some bits of the walls had cracked and been torn apart in the early bits of the siege. We left from the closest one to the exit but still far enough to not catch the attention of the guards standing by the main doors.

Silently lurking around, we managed to get close enough to the main streets when seven loud growls alerted us. The patrol that had stumbled upon us, quickly rushed to attack us, but first they had to handle a sweeping attack from Zephy. The critter jumped off Bloody's arms and turned his tail in a blade, crippling the approaching force. I was still impressed by the creature's capacity to morph part of his body to fit his intent, making him particularly deadly with his adaptability.

Derek and I handled the crawling monsters, their threatening posture weakened by the fact they couldn't move as fast as they could. The suppression was quick and smooth, the fiends perishing with single blows or shots, and soon we resumed our rush towards the main streets of the city. I was about to sigh in relief at the fact that we had avoided handling the immense city that was New York City at the time, but then I realized that our job was still far from easy.

After five minutes of running around to find a manhole, we ended up finding one. Sadly, the place was heavily guarded by a large horde of zombies that didn't look ready to part ways with the area. There were quite a lot, and I knew we couldn't waste time here right now… so I decided to rely on an improved version of a technique I had used a long time ago. Adding some special water that was stored in secret wrists' compartment, I started to produce bubbles and throw them with the aid of **｢****ACT 2****｣****. **Differently from normal bubbles, those were meant to survive with a larger quantity of Hamon stored in them, while also resisting swift pressures applied to them.

The bubbles soared and slammed on most of the zombie's bodies, bursting and releasing powerful sunlight-based blasts, scorching to the ground the fiends. This was the power of the '**Spinning Bubble Eclipse**', a better version of the old **Spinning Bubble Sunrise. **Most of my arsenal had received this treatment, mostly because I didn't want to leave any of my available skills to rust or deteriorate. Everything was important depending on the circumstances, especially now that I needed Hamon to kill some vampires and zombies.

The decimation was actually impressive considering that I didn't have the chance to have a field experience with this ability, but the massacre still far from complete as a couple managed to live through the development. The rest were easy to slaughter with incredible determination and control. I allowed the rest of the group to get down to the sewers before I jumped inside and closed the manhole as I entered the new area. A safe landing later, I found myself staring and biting down a groan at the unpleasant stench that was coming off from the unhealthy place.

"We need to move," Derek muttered. "I've heard some unpleasant rumors of this place. Crocs-"

"_Alligators_ don't live in the sewers," I quickly lamented. "It's just an urban legend meant to frighten any criminal from trying to use this place to run away from law enforcement."

I was quite confident about this after spending a few weeks in my old life trying to see if this rumor was eventually confirmed true or not. And I knew it wasn't so I didn't expect anything out of this possibility. Then a loud roar reminded me that in the Jojoverse, no matter how outlandish a claim was in the real world, it was going to be true or even crazier.

We all turned to look at the origin of the noise, a large monster with a reptilian appearance was crawling really fast. Some parts of its body were damaged, with its inner flesh having turned an unpleasant dark-brown. The alligators existed in this part of town and… they had been zombified. Even if we managed to find the cause of that cloud cover, the monsters there were still going to survive and require a major extermination campaign. One I was uncertain I wanted to do on my own being that I was the only Hamon user in here.

The undead gator roared again as it swiftly moved to attack us. Before it could reach us, I employed to destroy part of the small roof behind us and create debris to stop its advance. The monster still proceeded and, much to my surprise, the large amount of broken cement almost failed to hold against the first charge.

"Run," I merely muttered, shaken by this discovery as I knew the place had to be filled with fiends of this kind. The size and speed, coupled with the limited space to move around made any fights against them particularly unpleasant. I couldn't just waste time like this and… I almost facepalmed when I literally had the solution to this problem at hand's reach.

Hamon could stream through water's surfaces, and since the sewer was filled with water, with a thin layer of green and brown liquid existing right beneath our feet. The idea was stupidly brilliant, so much that I paused and slammed my open palm on the liquid as quickly as it came to mind. Before anyone could have asked what I was planning to do, electric-like energy zapped around and started to destroy all the fiends one at the time. Loud booms echoed all over the large area, freeing us from the worries of finding any threats along the way.

* * *

The Phillips manor was one of the greatest I have seen. Still far from Buckingham Palace, it was still impressive someone was capable of gaining this much of a wealth without some serious business behind it all. I doubted the money behind this building was born from legitimate investments, but still… it was incredible.

The entrance was broken open with the area left unguarded as we ventured inside the lobby. It felt like entering a hotel with how shiny and mostly clean the first room was, with the only exception of a couple of bloodstains on the curtains of the barricaded windows and on the floor. I could tell that this place hadn't been spared by the horde, but I knew from the lack of major struggles that this silence wasn't born from a struggle that had long-ended. No, it felt more like an ambush.

An ambush that was proved to be so when zombified guards started to attack us from the corridor that led to the main staircase. Derek took aim and drew two quick bullets, taking out the first two monsters. I charged up hamon in my hands and shredded three of those, while Zephy took care of the one coming from behind us. This little welcoming party was interesting since I would have expected much more at this point. Like ninjas, or anything that could fit beyond the usual undead.

My inner questions were given to the place where the 'party' was supposed to begin. It reminded me of one that was usually used for celebrations like marriages, important proclamations, or grand feasts to commemorate an important day. Right now, the place was packed with Ninjas. Lots of them at that.

They were kneeling formally on both sides of the carpet, leaving us to march forward to the podium where a couple of things jumped to my attention. The first, and the one we were here for, was the large metallic cage that was mostly covered by a violet drapes, leaving just a small dark space where we could see someone with blonde hair lying unconscious there-

"_Kate!_" Zephy called out, causing the shortest of the two standing individuals to cackle at the panicked tone from the critter.

"Aaaw, the little thing is crying because the big thing is currently sleeping. What a sad thing, bwahaha!"

This Senator Phillips sure looked very similar to the one I was more familiar with, but this time the man was older, wrinklier and more bloated. Looking to the side, a much older being stood and watched us with tired, almost dead, eyes. He was wearing a black kimono, his long hair and beard making him look like a man that had lived for centuries now.

"What do you think, friend? She said these were a threat, but I don't see anything to worry about-"

"Shut up."

Two single words… and a clean cut from the elder's swift tanto. The old senator tensed up and… his head soon rolled off his body, his expression stuck in one of disbelief as he realized he had been killed so easily and so suddenly by someone he considered his ally.

"Dio… Joestar," The weary ninja muttered. "I've heard so much about you. Many are the stories behind your name, starting from the way you… ended up being taken in by the family you now bear the name of."

"Truly? I guess you are planning to surrender now if you know this much about me."

"I would say that's an arrogant response, but… I would be a fool if I ignored the impressive deeds you are responsible for. Both in terms of combat prowess and mental interest in advancing the world's progress. You are a miracle ready to bestow the world with more miracles."

"Flattery will take you nowhere, old man. I believe you should already give up, I will not repeat this myself."

"How about I offer you the chance to personally leave this conflict? The same deal is extended to you, Derek Horse," The old fool remarked. "You two have bright destinies that will not be impacted if you decide to walk away from this conflict."

"No chance," The cowboy shot back. "You saying that this leaves no impact is almost funny. If you know so much about me, you should know that I ain't leaving a lady in trouble."

"Admirable," The elder conceded while bowing in his direction, then his attention was back to me. "But what about you, Dio Joestar?"

…

I smiled and shook my head. "I wish to thank you for your unending devotion to appearing like a humble grandfatherly figure. It just highlights how much of a disgusting bastard you really are."

The ninjas tensed up at the heavy insult I just threw at their leader. But I was far from done much to their annoyance.

"You see, while I could have fallen to the whole 'I am just trying to get this only task done with', I believe your colleague has given me the clue I needed to understand the words you just proclaimed. Those about destiny and fate."

"Oh? And you… believe you know what I am talking about?"

"Not what, who. I now know who is behind all of this and… now I see why he was so unwilling to part that information," I muttered before grimacing on the matter. The words from Pucci resonated as the clues I had about the situation combined all at once. "The mastermind behind this, the one that coordinates your clan to work together with the henchmen of the Senator. A being that doesn't belong to this dimension."

"What are you talking about, Dio?" Derek asked.

"_Not of this dimension?_"

Before I could say more about this, I found myself interrupted by a familiar figure that was now standing beside the elder. The figure had a feminine slim built, but her entire form was shrouded in a dull yellow robe and head-cloth. I could just barely see her purple hair, and the cold blue eyes that were currently aimed at me.

_Shit has just hit the fun. Like really badly._

"To think that you would already know about me. I'm flattered, but annoyed," The woman commented. "I had this grandiose speech prepared, one that should have lulled you into indulging in the mystery that I am. But please… tell me, who am I?"

I gritted my teeth, growing frustrated with the dangerous Stand User I had in front of me.

"Your name is Vins. Vins Bluemarine," I replied. "And you are angry at me- or someone that bears my name but also ill crimes to himself."

"Dio Brando or Dio Joestar. No matter what last name you might have, you are the sole responsible for stealing my son out of my clutches. The reason why he had to die," The vampire remarked fiercely. "But in this case, you shall serve as the catalyst of my victory. Alas... I will take my leave here after this brief comment."

"You are… leaving?"

"Today is unimportant. It doesn't matter if you survive or not this battle. In the end, your demise is guaranteed," Vins replied calmly. "My plans are already in motion, and it's just a short amount of time before I unlock the key to return him to me. And to make the priest pay for what he did to us all!"

"What are you talking about?" I demanded from her, only for the woman to smile and offer me the most malicious look one of her mindset could offer.

"Find me where the guard dog has been left. Only then you will learn the truth."

A blink and she was gone. Goddammit, for once I really wanted the villain to lose themselves in a monologue- and yet now I was left to handle the current issue created by Vins.

"I'm surprised you knew of this, but it matters not. You will die here."

"It's a strong maybe. One that depends more on us surviving together."

"Hope is the last emotion to fall, and I shall make sure to humble you through a little discovery I made a few weeks ago," The elder said before showing a Stone Mask and staring at it. "You will lose. This is my will."

And with that, he coughed some blood on the device, activating it before plunging it onto his face. He screamed, the noise muffled as the old bones creaked painfully. Twisting as he adapted and changed. I expected for the transformation to go unchanged as I used to remember it being… but then something odd happened before our eyes.

The ninjas all rushed towards the still-transforming clan leader, waiting for something to happen and… something did happen. Something I really didn't know about the mask itself. The tendrils that were usually meant to pull a possible user close enough to enable the effects it caused, this time slammed onto the various ninjas' bodies and it started to suck blood out of them. The drain was absurdly quick, and just as I made a single step forward it was all over.

Gawking at the unexpected scene, I saw the vampires falling one after the other, completely drained of any life force as it was all stolen by the mask. The end result was numerous lifeless corpses, and a new youthful elder that was now flexing over his powerful transformation.

"I never thought I could have felt this youthful and strong in my entire life. This… this defies my expectations by a large margin," The Clanless Leader mentioned, staring at his rejuvenated palms in awe before turning those in tight fists. "I almost pity you for having refused my kindness. I shall bestow you with a glorious death."

"Fat words from a bloodsucker," I lamented. "You will find out I'm way tougher than anything you expect of me."

Instead of scowling or growing annoyed, the man smiled.

"I'm happy to hear this. Please, show me how really those words are true."

And as he said that, I barely had enough time to see him bolt from his previous position, turning in a blur as he rushed around me and finally he blitzed from behind. He looked so confident since he was way faster than I was, but he seemed to quickly realize that this wasn't going to be easy. Especially when I had **｢****ACT 2****｣ **on standby. My Stand punched him away, the newly-born powerful vampire managing to bring his arms up just in time to not get killed by the blow.

"Impeccable reaction time. You were correct in sounding this confident."

I scowled at the growing amusement behind the monster's grin, and I took a moment to glance at the rest of the group.

"Try to get Kate out of that cage. I will fight him on my own."

"B-But-"

"No butts, this is a fight only I can fight. This vampire is stronger than the others."

"Thank you for the compliment, Dio."

"You better be keeping that serene mindset, because I sure as hell going to put through pain really soon."

He chuckled. "Show me your potential."

He bolted again, this time his tanto swirling and moving as he rushed me. My eyes widened as **｢****ACT 2****｣ **managed to stop a couple of wind-slashes from connecting, once again deflecting the assault from the dangerous bastard.

"Your Stand is so tuned with you. Yet I can see a flaw within your defense. One that I will happily exploit."

Numerous kunais and shurikens rushed my way, prompting **｢****ACT 2****｣ **to once again punch those away… and for me to roll out of the way as the vampire had bolted to the side to get a lucky hit on me. I could already see what he was trying to accomplish with that dual attack. I could only focus my Stand on a single threat at a time, which meant he could introduce a distracting threat and then attack me while **｢****ACT 2****｣** was focusing elsewhere. Brilliant, but mildly infuriating at this point since I was the one that had to counter that shit.

Truthfully, it was easy. I just needed to counter him by keeping my own attention on him while the projectiles approached. Only that it wasn't since he was really fast. Way faster than Jack or Dio had been when I fought them a few years ago. Even with Hamon improving my growth, I was pretty far from being able to compete with that speed. But I could still set up traps to make up for my slower pace.

The moment the grinning prick tried to pull that shit again, he found himself drenched with hamon-enchanted water courtesy of a couple of bubbles I had allowed to exist by my sides. The vampire howled in pure pain as one bursted right onto his face but, much to my eternal annoyance, it didn't outright kill him.

Bailing from close contact, the fiend didn't pause for a moment and I realized that Vins had to have told him about the powers of my Stand and the limits those had. Before I knew it, a myriad of projectiles of various kinds were thrown at me… from everywhere. He was moving really fast and throwing a lot of those shurikens that a couple still managed to pass through **｢****ACT 2****｣'****s** punches and stab onto my legs and arms.

_He is pissed. By a fair lot from the looks of it._

Pain surged and my adrenaline kicked up again as I tried to make up by attempting to dodge the endless barrage of blades. It was all futile, and soon I was brought to one knee because of the pure suffering I was dealing with.

"You shall die by ignoring the reality of my threat and see the full might of the Renkai Cla-AGH!"

Before he could finish that proclamation, his right arm was sent flying away as a massive light-powered slash slammed down from above. I saw someone rolling away, catching the attention of the furious bastard. It had to be Kate, else I couldn't explain how that familiar emotion that I only felt when I took hold of the Shin-aki was exuding from that powerful attack. The woman, which I couldn't properly see because of the dust exploding from the impact, was struggling to get up, the vampire approaching her with a slow pace.

"I will finally get the chance to avenge my ancestors. Those that you brutally murdered, you filthy thi-!"

He couldn't finish that sentence, nor he could approach her downed form.

_**Because I refused his will with mine.**_

Now that he was moving this slow, I had the chance to make use of **｢****ACT 2****｣'****s** abilities and freeze him up. I limped towards him, the vampire trying and failing to struggle free from the time-based restraints I had imposed onto him.

"Kate, I hope you are listening right now. I'm thankful for your help. I bet it hurts right now, to strike with such ferocity at your enemy, but hear me as I, Dio, wish to return the favor by ending this pathetic monster once and for all."

**｢****ACT 2****｣ **rushed, its punches turning in blurs as they barraged the terrified vampire with endless punches. Eye for an eye, I returned the pain back on the fiend in that lengthy assault.

"**MUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAA!**"

With the barrage over, the time-stop ended and the vampire's broken body slammed onto the wall in front of him, further adding extra damage as the hamon tore him apart in the most horrible way possible.

My legs were hurting, having suffered the most from that unpleasant tight spot I had been helped out by the one I was supposed to save. It was ironic… and somewhat embarrassing. Still, I didn't stay put and decided to check on the one that had helped me in that fight, knowing that her conditions had to have been particularly grave.

As I searched around the dust, I finally found… something warm. A hand. I could feel her pulse, her warmth and her fur-

_Wait... what?!_

While her clothes, which were mostly made by a hakama with the upper section a strong pink, her midriff bidding a vibrant red and the lower section a dark-blue-green, have seen better days, I was mostly shaken by the fact I was learning just now that Kate wasn't a human. No… she was… odd. An odd kind of odd. Almost like Bhediya, but I could tell she wasn't a werewolf- or werecat since she had feline features. Her fur was a pure white, with some dark bits on her ears. A long fluffy tail extended from her lower back.

Despite the absurd development, I still crouched down and started to pump out Hamon to fix the cuts I could spot through her fur. She also seemed a little drained, her orange eyes unfocused as she stared at nowhere in particular. But just as the Ripple streamed into her body… something else woke up and started to travel back to me with a breath-taking intensity. My legs were trembling at the sheer might behind that unknown power, my body warming up as the pain that was coming from my own wounds subsided. I heard some soft clicks as the few kunais and shurikens left my flesh without any personal assistance.

_I was healing her, but she was unconsciously healing me in return._

The shock subsided as I felt her body finally completely healed, and the unknown energy retreated back to her as I tried to make sense of what had just happened. Before I could, I heard her speak, quite quietly so.

"I… heard you," She muttered weakly before closing her eyes and falling unconscious, finally taking a break after a long time of waiting and resisting.

I stared at her for a long time and… I sighed. Allowing the calm to finally settle as I offered one last silent musing as I saw the others rushing towards us.

_**I don't know what you are, Kate, but I, Dio, can tell you truly are something to keep an eye out for.**_

* * *

**AN**

**Some big explanations, I bet people are already screaming about 'What the heck, man?' and asking how does 'that series fit'-**

**The thing is that this crossover is only Kate Aryoko and Zephy. Their 'real purpose' isn't important to the story, and they should be regarded as new companions to Dio. How did I come up with this Crossover? Before finishing Arc 1 I found myself pondering over what kind of companions Dio could have had for this adventure, and before I knew it I was looking at the newest Movie about Lupin… and I thought: What if we put on someone like Jigen and someone like Goemon? The first one is Dererk, the other is Kate.**

**So here is why and… I can already say that their relationship will not stem beyond platonic. Let's kill any rumors before they start, yeah? If you have any concerns, feel free to inquire, but give it a shot, and I will show you the brilliant idea I have with this character in this new crusade for… Mexico!**

**And now! Omake time!**

* * *

**Omake 20: The Gate and The Key (2)**

* * *

**The remaining survivor, a kunoichi, backed away and pulled one of the women nearby as her hostage. I sighed at the situation and made a step towards her despite the fact she was holding her tanto close to **_**the calm girl's throat**_**. **_**She picked the worst hostage possible**_**.**

"Brother, who is she?" Abigail asked quietly, blue eyes cynically aimed at the thin dagger. I gritted my teeth as the foolish ninja was tickling the wrong beast with that effort, and I had to act before the monster woke up and broke through my hamon-enchanted seals.

I had tried to do my best to keep Cthulhu's daddy to make a cameo, and if he tried right now… well, things would have gotten a taste too much spicier than I needed today. So I moved in with a coy plan to disable that effort and kill the aggressor at the same time.

"A dumbass from the looks of it, one that hasn't realized how dead she is," I flatly discussed. "By the way, did you finish your pancakes?"

She shook her head. "I was close. Then I was interrupted. And she hurt Derek."

"I know you are irked, sweetie, but can you do your big brother a favor?"

The young blonde frowned and I sighed. "Once I tell you, return to your pancakes. I will take care of this."

"Y-You are not in a position to do anything about-"

"I could unleash Father. He is really… angry."

"I bet he is," I replied to her comment with a nod. "But as I said, I will take care of this. You don't need to worry about this yourself."

…

"Fine."

I smiled and… unleashed ｢ACT 2｣, the Stand freezing the confused Kunoichi in time and allowing me to deliver a quick punch onto her nose. The Hamon coursing through my hand rushed through her head and then body, the process burned the being altogether much to the surprise of those all around… but I worried more about gesturing Abigail to return to her seat.

"See? Big brother got this. There is nothing to be concerned about, hun."

She smiled and nodded.

"Sorry if I was… a little naughty."

"It's normal. Our friends were hurt and you wanted to return the favor to that fiend," I answered with a nod. Patting her head as I left her back to her pancakes. I swear, I offered her this kind of special treat, and she seemed completely enamored by it. Going as far as pestering me a lot about having seconds or thirds of the portions that I offered to her.

Ah, such a shame that this adorable girl was close to becoming the closest thing to what Lovecraft's warned many about. And I had to make sure that she didn't go for a murderous killing spree because someone tried to ruin her day one way or another. So I calmly addressed the matter first and foremost before remembering that there was another pressing issue.

I saw everyone in the train was staring back at me. They expected answers to the madness they were subjected to, and while this would've made me particularly worried a few years ago, I had the upper ground when it came with excuses. Especially after years of sharpening my capacity of being a good liar.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm sorry that you have been forced to see this macabre scene unfold before your own eyes, and I wish to extend my humble apologies," I started to mutter, acting really remorseful in that moment. "My name is Abraham van Hellsing, I'm a Dutch Doctor that is specialized in hunting horrible creatures that have tried to cross the pond in an effort to find fertile hunting grounds here in the new continent. My presence here was dictated by a holy mission to defeat all monstrous beings that hail Hell and shun God's own creatures."

The murmuring increased, and I could see that my act was working from the understanding I could spot on everyone's face at my words. Still, I wasn't done yet since my objective wasn't just to excuse myself of what had just happened with a fake identity. But… before I had the chance to speak, Abigail chimed in with a hum.

"How did you become a doctor?" The blonde inquired with a hint of interest and I hummed.

"I studied lengthily and with devotion, all in the name of my faith and a sense of rigorous justice. I was taught to be just, and never unfair, humble, but never too appealing to the monsters that might lurk around all corners of this world."

My answer seemed to satisfy the girl as she nodded and returned to her pancakes. With that handled smoothly, I resumed my speech to the rest of the train's occupants.

"Right now, I have to sadly request you all to solemnly swear that you will never mention what happened here today. The reason why this saddened me so much considering that everyone would be more than happy to forget of this dreadful day is that people have died today because of vampires hailing from a coven that aimed to hurt the good American people."

"Y-You mean that we shouldn't say anything about dead people? How- How could we-"

"Only that you are unaware of the natural causes of their death. I understand the horror of this request, but mine isn't a request built on stupidity, but one born from concern of the panic this would cause to the rest of the American people. The monsters fester in the fears of humans, and by fueling the fright, you would give them the chance to kill even more," I replied with a committed tone, nodding at the furious man that had tried to rebuke my previous comments. "Which is why I can promise you all here and now, in my good name, that the foul monster behind this attack shall be destroyed at once the moment I shall find it!"

"Brother is… nice and good," Abigail agreed. "And he means well."

I was actually surprised by that unexpected conclusion, but I could see the people accepting this big lie even better with the girl's words. As I walked back to my seat, I smiled at the amused smirk on her face.

"So… _You're now this 'Van Hellsing'?_"

"It's a character I've heard about from an Irish writer I had the chance of meeting last year," I explained to Zephy and the others. "He is going to have an important role in one of his upcoming works and… I believe I should heal your wounds, Derek."

"What? No… it's not like I'm dying here."

I sighed. "I'm sorry I ignored the problem for that long, but I had to come up with an excuse for us to not be hounded by the police and reporters."

"Big brother, can you tell me more of that story after you are done with that.?" The blonde asked quietly. "I want to know more about Van Helsing."

"Sure, why not."

_**And for now, Defcon 0 was a distant nightmare. One that will definitely not happen until I was capable of preventing it.**_

* * *

**AN**

**The eldritch pancake-munching host is part of that train.**


End file.
